ON 



NATAL TIMBER 

AND 

ARBORICULTURE ; 



WITH CRITICAL NOTES ON AUTHORS WHO HAVE 
RECENTLY TREATED THE SUBJECT OF 

PLANTING. 



BY PATRICK MATTHEW. 



LONDON: 

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN; AND 
ADAM BLACK, EDINDURGH. 

MDCCCXXXL 




NEILL & CO. PRINTERS, 
Old Fishmarket. Edinburgh. 



PREFACE. 



It may be thought presumptuous in a 
person who has never had the curiosity to 
peruse the British classic authors on plant- 
ing and timber — Evelyn, Hanbury, Mar- 
shall, Miller, Poxtey — to make expe- 
riment of the public sufferance. The au- 
thor does not, however, think any apology 
necessary ; as, if the public lose time unpro- 
fitably over his pages, he considers the blame 
attachable to them, not to him. A WTiter 
does not obtrude as a speaker does, but 
merely places his thoughts within reach. 

As the subject, notwithstanding its great 
importance, might, jier se^ be felt dry and 



VI 



PREFACE. 



insipid by the general reader, accustomed 
to the luxuries of modern literature^ the 
author has not scrupled to mix with it such 
collateral matter as he thought might serve 
to correct the aridity. The very great in- 
terest of the question regarding species, 
variety, habit, has perhaps led him a little 
too wide. 

There is one advantage in taking a sub- 
ject of this kind, that few professional (li- 
terary) critics can meddle with it, further 
than as regards style and language, with- 
out exposing their own ignorance. Yet 
will the author experience the highest 
pleasure in being instructed and corrected, 
wherever his knowledge may be found de- 
fective, or when speculation or misconcep- 
tion of facts have led him into error. Know- 
ledge and truth, is mental strength and 
health ; ignorance and error^ weakness and 



PREFACE. 



vii 



disease : the man who pursues science for 
its own sake, and not for the pride of pos- 
session, will feel more gratitude towards the 
surgeon who dislodges a cataract from the 
mind's eye, than towards the one who re- 
pairs the defect of the bodily organ. 



GOURDIE-HILL BY EkROL, 

Sept. 10. 1830. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction, .... Page 1 

Part I. — Structure of Vessels. 

Section I. — Plank. 

Figure, dimensions, and quality of timber suitable, . 5 

British trees suited for plank, . . .7 

Directions for training and pruning plank timber, . 8 

Section II. — Timbers, . . 14 

Most suitable dimensions, . . . .18 

Figures of bends and crooks, . . . .19 

British trees suited for timbers, . . .21 

Part II. — British Forest Trees suited for Naval 
Purposes. 

Oak — Quercus, . . . . .31 

Spanish Chestnut — Castanea vulgaris, . . 42 

Beech-tree — Fagus sylvatica, . . .48 

Scotch Elm — Ulmus montana, . . .50 

English Elm — Ulmus campestris, . . .54 

Red-wood Willow — Salix fragilis, . . .58 

Red-wood Pine — Pinus, . . . .63 

White Larch — Larix communis, pyramidalis, . 75 

Investigation of the causes of the rot in larch, , 78 

Soils and subsoils most suited for larch, . . 82 

Soils and subsoils where larch generallytakes rot, . 86 

Remarks on open draining, . . .88 

Bending and kneeing larch, . . ,90 
New plan of forming larch roots advantageously 

into knees, . . . . .94 

Uses of larch, and value as a naval timber, . 97 

• h 



X 



CONTENTS. 



Part III. — Miscellaneous Matter connected with 
Naval Timber. 

Nurseries, * . . . . P. 106 

Infinite variety existing in wliat is called species, ib. 

Injurious effect from selecting the seed of tlie infe- 
rior varieties for sowing, . . .107 

Injurious effect from kiln-drying fir cones . ib. 

A principle of selection existing in nature of tbe 

strongest varieties for reproduction, . .108 

Injui'ious efi^ect from the plants spindling in the seed- 
bed and nursery line, . . . .109 

Injurious effect from cutting the roots and from 
pruning, . . . . .111 

A light soil and open situation best suited for a niu'- 

sery, . . . . . . ib. 

Wide diverging root-leaders necessary to the large 
extension of a tree, . . , .112 

Planting, .... . . .114 

Further observations on pruning, . . .117 

Observations on timber, . . . 122 

Table of the number of sap-growths of different kinds 

of timber, . . . . . .124 

Remarks on laburnum, . . . . 126 

Height to which trees may be trained of clear stem, 128 

Concerning our Marine, . . . .130 

Causes which befit Britain for being the first naval 

power, and the emporium of the world, . 131 

Utility of a system of universal free trade, . 133 

Absolute necessity of abolishing every monopoly and 

restriction on trade in Britain, . . 134 

Our marine not represented in Parliament, and the 

consequences, . . . .135 

Insane duty on the importation of naval timber and 

hemp, . . . . . 136 



CONTENTS, XI 



Part IV. — Notices of Authors who treat of 
Arboriculture. 

Utility of a general review of these authors, P. 138 

L — Forester's Guide, by Mr Monteath, . . 140 

Advantage of converting our coppice oak into forest, 

and of saving our home oak iu time of peace, 140 
Plan, by IVIr Monteath, of preparing peat soils for 

planting, ..... 

of covering hare rocky ground with timber, 

of raising oak-forest or copse by layers. 

Influence of our vernal eastern breeze on vegetation. 
Cause why the trees of narrow belts seldom grow to 

large timber, . . . . .148 

Observations on pruning and thinning, . .150 
Observations on the age at which the valuable part 

of oak bark is thickest, . . . .154 

Observations on the prevention of dry-rot, . 157 

II. — Nicol's Planter's Calendar, . . . 163 

Different influence of transplanting on herbaceous 
and woody vegetables, . . .164 

Cutting the roots close in, injurious to some trees 
and not to others, . . . .165 

Mr Bang's plan of raising forest from the seed in situ, 167 

Reasons which render the planting of young trees 
preferable to sowing in situ, . . .168 

]VIr Sang's directions for nursery practice ; sowing 
the different kinds of forest trees in the seed-bed; 
removing the seedlings to the nursery line, and 
from thence to the field, . . .170 

Remarks on transplanting, . . .178 

III. — Billington on Planting, . . .181 
An account of the management of the Royal Forests, ib. 
Reasons why government should rather purchase 

than raise timber, and that they should sell off 

the Royal Forests, . . . .182 



xii 



CONTENTS. 



The Billingtoiiiau system of priming, . P." 185 

Remarks on planting soils not easily permeable hy 

water, . . . . .187 

INIr Billington's directions for planting tliese soils, 188 
■ — — — . for clearing away weeds, and for cut- 
ting in or pruning tlie points of the branches, . 189 

IV. — Forsyth ox Fruit and Forest Trees, . 192 

Mr Forsyth's surgery of trees, and the value of his 

composition-salve, . . . . ib. 

Manner in which a tree can be transformed from 
disease and rottenness to health and soundness, 193 
v.— Mr Withers, . . . . .198 

Discomfitm'e of our Scottish Knights by Mr Withers, ib. 

Account of a number of facts and experiments by 
the writer, on the comparative strength of quick 
and slow grown timber — on the influence of cir- 
cumstance and age in modifying the quality of 
the timber — on the difference in the quality of 
different varieties of the same species, and of dif- 
ferent parts of the same tree, . . .199 

Oak timber, moderately fast grown, so that it may 
be of sufficient size, and still retain the toughness 
of youth, best suited for naval use, . .214 

Mr Withers, his literary friends and Sir Hem'y Steu- 
ai't equally imperfectly acquainted with the sub- 
, -ject in dispute between them, . . .215 

The Withers' system neither necessary nor econo- 
mically suited for the greater pai*t of Scotland, . 217 

Fallacy of experiments on the strength of timber, 
from not taking into account the difference of ten- 
sion of the different annual layers, and their posi- 
tion, whether flat, perpendicular, 6cc. . .221 
VI. — Steuart's Planter s Guide and Sir Walter 

Scott's Critique, .... 226 

Importance of whatever may serve to amuse the se- 
cond childhood of the wealthy, . . .227 



CONTENTS. 



Xlll 



The subject— the art of moving about large trees in 
general, merely a pandering to our wilfulness and 
impatience, . . . . P. 227 

Intolerable dulness of the park and smooth lawn, 228 

Delightftd sympathies with the objects and varied 
scenery of our peopled subalpine country, . 229 

Sir Walter Scott's curious effort to give consequence 
to the art of moving about large trees, . .231 

Paroxysm of admii'ation of Sir Walter, at Sir Hen- 
ry's discoveries, with his hyperbolic figures of 
comparison, ..... 233 

Account of the writer's practice in moving trees of 
considerable size, . . . . 235 

Taste of Sir Walter Scott for " home-keeping 
squires," practisers of the AUanton system, . 245 

What a British gentleman should be, , . 246 

The Allanton practice described, . . 249 

Quotation from Sir Henry Steu art's volume, in 

which the philosophy of his practice is described, 254 

Summary of Sir Henry's discoveries, . .264 

Consideration of the accuracy of some of Sir Henry's 
assertions regarding the desiccated epidermis of 
trees, and the elongation of the shoots of plants, 265 

Sir Henry's assertion that quick-grown timber is in- 
ferior to slow-grown, and that culture necessarily 
renders it softer, less solid, and less dm'able, not 
correct, ...... 282 

The present climate of Scotland, and of the Orkneys 

and Shetlands, inferior to a former, . .287 

That this may have been owing to these islands hav- 
ing once been a portion of the continent, . 288 

The recent advance and recession of the German 
Ocean, render a former junction with the conti- 
nent not improbable, . . . .289 

Mr Loudon's statement, of the effect produced by 
pruning on the quality and quantity of the tim- 
ber, that trees produce the best timber in their 
natural locality, not supported by facts, . 305 



xiv 



CONTENTS. 



The apparent use of the infinite seedling varieties of 
plants, ..... P. 307 

VII. — Cruickshank's Practical Planter, . 309 

Advantages of laying ground under timber, stated 
rather too high by Mr Cruickshank, . . ib. 

Mr Cruickshank's account of the superior fertilizing 

influence of forest upon the soil, . .310 

Facts which in many cases lead to an opposite con- 
clusion, . . . . '316 

An examination into the causes which promote or 
retard the formation, or which tend to dissipate 
the earth's covering of vegetable mould, . 316 

Account of an uncommon system of fallowing once 
practised iu the Carse of Gowrie, . . 324 

High manuring quality of old clay walls, . 325 

Formation of nitre the probable cause of the fertiliz- 
ing quality of these walls, . . . ib. 

The fertilizing influence of summer fallow may in 
part be owing to the formation of nitre and other 
salts, . . . . . . ib. 

That there is a deficiency of these salts in some places 
of the world, and an excess in others, . . 326 

Ignorance of Mr Cruickshank regarding the location 
of certain kinds of trees, . . . 327 

Mr Cruickshank's reprehension of the practice of co- 
vering fir seeds half an inch deep in England, and 
and of forcing suitable earth for nui^series where 
awanting. ..... 330 

Best method of transplanting seedlings in the nur- 
sery row, . . . . .33] 

Quotation worthy the attention of planters, . ib. 

Error of authors on the location of trees, in incul- 
cating a determinate character of soil as generally 
necessaiy for each kind of tree, . . 334 

Further errors of Mr Cruickshank on the location of 
trees, . . . . . .335 

Adaptation of Scots fir to moist soils, even to peat- 
moss, ...... 338 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



An account by Mr Cruicksliank of the most eco- 
nomical and successful mode of planting moors 
and Weak mountains, ... P. 340 

Method of planting" by the flat dibble or single notch, 343 

by the double notch or cross-slitting, 344 

Expense and comparative merits of each, . . 345 

These methods of planting best adapted for a sterile 

country, where the weeds are small, , . 346 

Practice by the writer of cultivating young plan- 
tation by the plough, suited for rich soil, . 347 

Best season for planting moist soils, . . 348 

Manner in which frost throws up the young plant 

from the soil, ..... 349 

IVIr Cruickshank's plan of raising oak forest in situ 
from the seed, . . , .351 

That although the bare plan given by our author, of 
sowing in situ, under the shelter of nui'ses, is 
good, his directions for executing it are not very 
judicious, ..... 352 

Advantages of this plan which Mr Cruickshank has 
not noticed, ..... 353 

That the power of ripening seed is not increased by 

shelter in proportion to the power of growing, 356 

That the line of seed ripening, and not the line of 
growing, regulates the natural distribution of 
plants in respect to climate, . . .357 

That oaks, under this plan of sowing in situ under 
shelter, can be extended to a climate inferior to 
the natural, . , . , . ib. 

That oaks grown in the low country, and best cli- 
mate of Scotland, appear not to ripen the seed 
sufficiently. Thence the probability that oak now 
would not even keep its present locality in the low 
country of Scotland, although it may " be taught 
to rise in our" alpine country, . . . 358 



Xvi CONTEXTS. 



APPENDIX. 

Note A. — That uuirersal empii-e is practicable only un- 
der naval power, ... P. 363 
Note B. On hereditary nobility and entail, . . 364 
Note C. Instinct or habit of breed, . . . 369 
Nautical and roving disposition of the superior 
breed which has spread westward over the mari- 
time provinces of Britain, and over nearly the 
whole continent of North America, . .370 
Influence of change of place, . . .371 
Influence of civilization and confinement upon the 

complexion, . . . . .372 

Difference of character between the population of, 
the northern and southern maritime provinces of 
Britain, . , . . .373 

That the middle and southern portion of the North 
Temperate Zone is not so favourable to human 
existence as the northern portion, . .375 

Note D. Use of the selfish passions, . . 376 

Note E. Injudicious measurement law of the tonnage 
of vessels, rendering om' mercantile marine of 
defective proportions, . . . .377 

Note F. On the mud depositions or alluvium on the 

eastern coast of Britain, . . . 378 

Probability that a delta of this alluvium, a continu- 
ation of Holland, had at one time occupied the en- 
tire German Ocean, .... 379 
Accommodation of organized life to cii'cumstauce, by 

diverging ramifications, . . .381 

Retrospective glance at oiu* pages, . . . 388 



INTRODUCTION. 



Navigation is of the first importance to the 
improvement and perfecting of the species, in spread- 
ing, by emigration, the superior varieties of man, and 
diffusing the arts and sciences over the world ; in pro- 
moting industry, by facilitating the transfer of com- 
modity through nmnberless channels from where it 
is not, to where it is reqiured ; and in bearing the 
products of those most fertile but unwholesome por- 
tions of the earth, to others more congenial to the 
existence of the varieties of man susceptible of liigh 
improvement : Water being the general medimn of 
action, — fluidity or conveyance by water, almost as 
necessary to civilized hfe as it is to organic Hfe, in 
bearing the molecules forwai*d in theii* vital com'ses, 
and in floating the pabulimi (the raw material) from 
the soil through the H^ing canals to the manufacto- 
ries of assimilized matter, and thence to the points 
of adaptation. 

A 



2 



INTRODUCTION. 



As civilization progresses under the influence of 
navigation, and the earth exchanges her stragghng 
hordes of savages for enhghtened densely-peopled 
nations, every climate and country will be more set 
ajDart to its appropriate production, and the utility 
of \he great conduit, the Ocean, will more and more 
be developed, and become the grand theatre of con- 
tested dominion — superiority there being almost 
synonymous with Universal Empire — diy land only 
the footstool of the Mistress of the Seas *. 

In the still horn* which has followed the cannon 
roar of our victories, we seem disposed to sleep se- 
cure, almost in forgetfulness, that we possess this 
superiority, that we stand forth the Champion of 
the World, and must give battle to every aspu'ant 
to the possession of the trident sceptre. 

As soon as the recent principles of naval motion 
and new projectiles, conjoined to shot-proof vessels, 
shall have been brought to use in naval warfare, 
marine will have acquired a great comparative pre- 
ponderance over land batteries, and every shore be 
still more at the mercy of the Lords of Ocean. 

When we consider the tendency of luxmious 
peace, the effeminacy thence flowing in upon many 
of our wealthier population,— when we view, on the 

See App. A. 



INTRODUCTION. 



3 



one hand, an entailed aristocracy*, whose founders had 
been gradually thrown uppermost in more stirring 
times, the boldest and the wisest, but whose pro- 
geny, " in a calm world" entailed to listless satiety, 
have little left of hope or fear to awaken in them 
the dormant energies of their ancestors, or even to 
preserve these energies from entirely sinking ; and, 
on the other hand, an overflowing population, chain- 
ed, from the state of society, to incessant toil, the 
scope of their mental energies narrowed to a few ob- 
jects from the division of labom% all tending to that 
mechanical order and tameness incompatible with 
liberty ; thus, perhaps, equally in danger of deterio- 
rating and sinking into caste, both classes yielding 
to the natural law of restricted adaptation to condi- 
tion : — when we reflect on this, the conclusion is 
irresistibly forced upon us, that the periodical re- 
turn of war is indispensable to the heroic chivabous 
character and love of freedom which we have so long 
maintained, and which (Britain being the first in 
name and power in the family of nations) must be 
so influential on the morale of the civilized world. 
It is by the jar and struggle of the conflict that the 
baser alloy and rust of our manners and institutions 
must be removed and rubbed away : it is by the en- 

* See App. B. 

A ^ 



4 



INTRODUCTION. 



nobling excitement of danger and of hardship that 
our generous passions must be cherished, and our 
youth led to emulate the Roman in patriotic thirst 
for glory — the Spartan in devotion — their own ances- 
tor, the more daring Scandinavian sea-king or rover 
in adventurous valour. Without, however, seeking 
the fight, yet in preparation for the perhaps not dis- 
tant time, when we shall face another foe, it behoves 
us, without any sickly sentimentality, to cherish our 
warlike virtues—above all things to attend to what 
must constitute " the field of our fame," Our Ma- 
bine, and the material of its construction, Naval 
Timber, 



* See App. C. 



( 5 ) 



PART 1. 

STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 

Vessels are constructed of wood under two 
forms, Plank and Timbers ; Plank, the out and in- 
side skin of the vessel — Timbers, the ribs or frame . 
which support the plank. 

SECTION I. PLANK. 

Trees intended for plank ought to be reared in 
close forest, or protected situation, drawn tall and 
straight, or what is preferable for a part, with a 
gentle regular bend, technically sny, Figs, v and x, 
(next page). It requires to be^of clean solid texture, 
from 121 to 40 feet in length, and at least 8 inches 
in. diameter at small end, or any greater thickness. 
For the conveniency of transport, oak plank timber 
is generally squared or planked where grown, and is 
cut out from 2 J to 7 inches in thickness, and from 
6 to 18 inches in breadth. Plank is needed of such 
various dimensions, that any oak tree of clean tim- 
ber, nearly straight one way, and straight, or with 
a gentle regular bending, the other, may safely be 
cut into plank, the section to be in the plane of the 



6 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



curve. Figs, v, x, y, z, represent the most advan- 
tageous forms of logs for cutting into plank. The 
dotted lines shew the section of the saw in planking : 
the straighter the log is in the plane of the saw, it 
is the more suitable, as the planks bend sufficiently 
side-waj by steaming ; Fig. v, of considerable bend 
and taper, where the planks, when cut, have a bend 
edge-wsij, is the most valuable : this form requires 
to be very free of knots. In straight planks. Fig. z, 
cleanness from knots is not such a desideratum. 

z 



r— 1 












1 




Figs, z, y, of any length — best long ; x, from 25 to 35 feet ; v, v, 
from 12 to 24 feet. 

In the above cut, for distinctness, the saw is drawn enter- 
ing the butt. In practice it enters the top. 

When planks are cut out where grown, they are 
sawn from the round log immediately after it is fell- 



PLANK. 



7 



ed and barked, which not only prevents injiuy from 
drought-cracks, but produces also a considerable 
saving of timber and labom% as the w^ood is softer 
when green ; and the centre planks can thus be had 
much broader than after squaring the log. The outer 
part of the matured or red wood, which is partly cut 
away in squaring, is also the cleanest for bending. 
The sap or not sufficiently matured wood, when left 
on the side of the plank in the vessel, wherever it is 
not always soaking in water, is only useful to the 
shipwright, as it decays in two or three years, and 
demands an expensive repair. When plank timber 
is squared, it is for the conveniency of carriage and 
stowage, and where timber is of little value. 

Of British trees suited for plank, the most valu- 
able are oak, Spanish chesnut, larch, red wood pine, 
and sometimes beech *, elm, plane {Acer pseudo-pla- 
tanus) under water. As no timber decays under 
water for a considerable length of time, when put in 
fresh, unless it be devoured by the sea-worm, beech 
or any other hard tough wood is nearly equally good 
as oak for outside plank under light water-mark, 
provided the timber be hastened out of the bush 
into the vessel, or be kept in pools, either in log or 

* Beech, suited for plank, is sometimes of more value when 
straight and of considerable length for the purposes of keel-pieces ; 
for this the log requires to be from 30 to 70 feet in length, and at 
least of sufficient thickness at the small end to square a foot. 



8 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



plank, till used, or be planked, and the plank kept 
dry under cover. One summer on the ground will 
generally render a beech log in the bark useless. 

DIRECTIONS* FOR TRAINING PLANK TIMBER. 

Divide all branches into leaders and feeders ; lead- 
ers, the main or superior shoots which tend to become 
stems, A, a, ; feeders, the inferior branches, B, 6,5,5, 




* These directions are generally applicable— as well for what 
may be required for being bent for compass-timbers, and for what 
may be used for laud purposes, as for plank. 



PLANK. 



9 



Should more than one leader appear from the 
time of planting the tree till it attain the required 
height for the plank, shorten all but the most pro- 
mising one down to the condition of feeders, making 
the section immediately above a twig, preferring one 
which takes a lateral or horizontal direction. Vide 
dotted line crossing a, a. 

Should any feeder, below the reqviired height, be- 
come enlarged beyond its compeers, such as B, re- 
duce it to equality (vide dotted line), or prune it close 
off, if this should be necessary to the symmetry of 
the tree. 

Cut off, close by the trunk, all shoots which rise 
at a very acute angle with the main stem, such as C. 
There is a triple reason for this ; they rise up and 
interfere with the more regular horizontal feeders, 
tending also to become leaders ; they do not form a 
proper junction with the stem, by reason of the 
wood, as it swells, not being able to throw up the 
bark out of the narrow angle ; thence the bark of 
both stem and branch is enclosed in the confined 
breek, and the wood never unites thence disease is 

* There are several valuable varieties of apple-trees of acute 
branch angle, which do not throw up the bark of the breeks ; 
this either occasions the branches to split down when loaded 
with fruit, or, if they escape this for a few years, the confined 
bark becomes putrid, and produces canker, which generally ruins 

1 



10 STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. n 

liable to be generated between them, or-^feey^ are 
subject to be torn down by the wind ; and should 
they ultimately come to be removed, being then of 
considerable size, and the section from their perpen- 
dicular position being partly horizontal, as the sides 
of the wound swell up, the rain lodges in the centre, 
and generates rot. These nearly perpendicular 
branches generally originate from improper pruning, 
springing out where a large branch has been cut away. 

Lop off all branches, which, by taking an irregu- 
lar direction, incline to rub upon the more regular ; 
also remove all splintered, twisted, and diseased 
branches. 

Do not cut away any of the lower branches (feed- 
ers) till they become sickly or dead. By pruning 
these prematm*ely, you destroy the fine balance of 
nature, and throw too much vigour into the top, 
which in consequence puts forth a number of leaders. 
You also diminish the growth of the tree by the loss 
of healthy feeders ; the timber of the tree increas- 
ing in proportion to the quantity of healthy branches 
and foliage (the foliage being the stomach and limgs 

the tree. We have remedied this by a little attention in assist- 
ing the rising of the bark with the knife. Nature must not be 
charged with the malformation of these varieties ; at least, had 
she formed them, as soon as she saw her error she would have 
blotted out her work, 

2 



PLANK. 



11 



of the plant). You also, by diminishing the num- 
ber of feeders, increase the comparative size of those 
remaining, which throws the upper part of the stem 
into large knots, improper for plank, and renders 
their futm*e excision dangerous, as large feeders, 
when circumstance or decay require their removal, or, 
when they are rifted off by ^\inds or snow, leave 
wounds which often carry corruption into the core 
of the tree. 

After the tree has acquired a sufficient height of 
bole for plank, say from 20 to 60 feet, according to 
circumstance of exposure, cHmate, 5cc., and also as 
many branches above this height as may be thought 
necessary to carry on advantageously the vital func- 
tions, as the superior head will now sustain small in- 
jury by being thrown out into large branches and 
plurality of leaders, (if it be oak it will become more 
valuable by affording a number of small crooks and 
knees) ; it will then be proper, in order to have tim- 
ber as clean as possible, and regidarly flexible, to 
lop clean off all the branches on the stem as far up 
as this requu'ed height. From the early attention 
to procm-e very numerous feeders, and to prevent 
any from attaining large size, the wounds will very 
soon be closed over, leaving no external scar, and as 
little as possible of internal knot or breaking off of 



12 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



fibre. There are many salves, panaceas, and pig- 
ments in use for covering over tlie section of remov- 
ed branches, which in ordinary cases may occasion 
no injmy, but they ai'e unsightly. In womids of 
beech trees where the cut tubes are so prone to die 
downward a considerable way into the stem and to 
generate rot, an antiseptic quickly- drying pigment 
might be beneficial. This and the time of the sea- 
son for pruning, at which the cut tubes or fibres 
are least liable to die inward, deserve attention. 
We consider the spring the least dangerous time. 
Should a number of small shoots spring out in con- 
sequence of this last pruning, they may be swept 
down if good plank be desired ; if not, they may 
remain, as their presence will not greatly injm*e 
the plank, and they occasion the stem to thicken 
considerably faster where they grow : yet it is pro- 
bable that, in doing this, by obstructing the flow of 
the sap downwards, they may interfere mth the na- 
tm-al enlargement of the roots, and ultimately be 
injmious. Some varieties, or rather some indivi- 
duals of oak, are much more prone to this sprouting 
upon the bole after pruning than others ; where the 
disposition exists in a great degree it ought to be 
encoui'aged, and the tree set apart for the construc- 
tion of cabinet work. 



PLANK. 



13 



This system of pruning— encouraging numerous 
feeders and one leader while the tree is young, and 
of allowing or rather inducing the branches, after 
the tree has acquired sufficient height, to spread out 
into a horizontal top, is in harmony with, and only 
humouring the natm-al disposition of trees, and is 
therefore both seemly and of easy practice The 
perfection of naval forest economy would consist in 
superadding (according to instructions to be given 
on training of timbers) a top of which every branch 
is a valuable bend or knee, though in consequence 
of the situation the timber will be fragile, and of 
light porous texture. 

In pruning and educating for plank timber, 
the whole art consists in training the tree as much 
as possible, and with as little loss of branch as 
possible, to one leader and numerous feeders, and 
to the regular cone figure which the pine tribe na- 
turally assumes. This can be best and most easily 
performed by timely attention — checking every over- 
luxuriant, overshadowing branch and wayward shoot 
on its first appearance ; so that none of the feeders 
which spring forth at first may be smothered, till 

* Commencing by times, the greater part of training and prun- 
ing for plank, excepting in the case of dead branches, fractures, 
and last pruning, may be performed by a small knife. 



14 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



they in tui'ii become lowermost ; and by the influence 
of rather close plantation, which of itself will perform 
in a natm'al manner all that we have been teaching 
by art, and will perform it well. This closeness 
must, however, be very guardedly employed, and 
timeously prevented from proceeding too far, other- 
wise the complete ruin of the forest, by prematm'e 
decay or winds, may ensue, especially when it con- 
sists of pines. Of course all kinds of pines require 
no other attention than this (well-timed thinning), 
and to have their sickly moss covered under branches 
swept clean down. 



SECTION II. TIMBERS. 

Timbers, as before stated, are the ribs of the ves- 
sel, spreading out and upward (excepting at the bow 
and stern) at right angles to the keel and keelson, 
two large straight logs which form a double spinal 
support or backbone. The ribs or compass timbers 
in great public building establishments are some- 
times bent by machinery, after being softened by 
steam or hot liquids * ; and for this pm*pose the 

* We are not in possession of sufficient facts to judge of the 
effect to hasten or deter decay occasioned hy the timber having 



TIMBERS. 



15 



cleanest straightest wood is requisite. W e, how- 
ever, do not believe that pieces of great diameter, 
bent artificially, can have equal strength and resi- 
lience as when grown bent — the fibre must in some 
degree be crippled. We admit that timbers and frames 
may be built of separate bended pieces of no great 
thickness, and have all the strength and resilience 
of natural bend : the strongest and most elastic 
mode of fonning vessels would be to compose them 
of different layers of plank over each other in diago- 
nal fashion, or at an angle 60°, but the labour and 
inconveniency of these modes would be great. We 
will not admit that an experiment between the 
strength of a piece of coarse cross-grained timber, 
half naturally bent, half cut out of the solid, and 
that of a piece of clean timber artificially bent, is 
any proof on the subject. Let us produce a clean 
natural bend, exactly fitted to its place, without any 
section of fibre, and make experiment with it. But 
at any rate, as this plan (bending of timbers) has 
never been adopted to any extent in our private 
building-yards, we must doubt its economy, — either 

been softened in hot liquids of 212^ or upwards, and not raised 
so high as to generate pyrolignous acid ; but we think it must 
impair the elasticity. 



16 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



that the practice is of no considerable advantage, or 
that the requisite machinery is too expensive for 
private establishments, and conclude that fine bent 
timber still continues a necessary in the formation 
of at least our mercantile marine. 

Of the very ingenious innovations in the structure 
of vessels contrived by Sir Seppings, by which 
knees and crooked timber might nearly be supersed- 
ed, we can only say, the practice is not followed, and, 
at least in private building -yards, not likely to be so ; 
— that the demand for fine crooked timber, compa- 
ratively, is, and will continue to be, as great as ever. 
Should our war navy, from the introduction of steam 
impulse and bomb cannon, be reduced to fleets of 
strong gun-boats, the demand for crooked timber, 
instead of lessening, will greatly increase, — the build- 
ing of frames of straight timber being more expen- 
sive, and less suitable, in small than in large vessels ; 
and should war occur, in the hmiy of the formation 
of a new war navy under a different principle, the 
speediest and simplest mode of construction will be 
followed. 

Nearly two-thirds of the timbers of a vessel con- 
sist of the curves and bends a, h, c, e,f; the other 
third is of straighter timber, and easily obtained. 



TIMBERS. 



17 



All timbers require to be straight in one way — in 
the plane of their side, and the sides generally to 
be square. The under measures embrace timbers of 
appropriate size for vessels from 50 to 500 tons re- 
gister ; it is seldom that merchantmen are required 
under or above this size. Of course, large war- 
vessels require timbers of larger dimension. The 
corresponding timbers of vessels of different size are 
nearly similar figures, and the length of their re- 
spective lines not far from being in the ratio of the 
cube root of the tonnage — a little deeper and thicker 
in the smaller vessels. When timbers are formed of 
larch or pine, they require to be a little more in dia- 
meter than when of oak. 



B 



18 



STKUCTUllE OF VESSELS. 



Fig. a, Flat floor, from 9^ to 18 feet long (that is, 9^ for a vessel 
of 50 tons, and 18 for one of 500)j and from 9 to 16 inches 
deep at middle ; thickness ^th less than depth, the diameter 
increasing in proportion to the length. When fillings such 
as s are used, flat floors are cut from straight logs. 

h, Rising floor shorter, and same depth and thickness as former. 

c, c. High rising floors, from 4 to 8 feet in length of wing, and 

a little deeper, and same thickness as former. From the 
difficidty of procuring this bend, the wings are often used of 
unequal length, according as the timber turns out, the shorter 
wing to exceed 3 feet, and more when of considerable dia- 
meter. Floors are of every rise from a to c, being flattest 
at midships, and rising gradually as they approach the bow 
and stern. In all timbers, it is necessary, for strength, that 
the fibre of the wood extend from one end to the other with- 
out much cross grain. See lines on high rising floor, c. 

d, First foot-hook, from 7 to 13 feet long, and from 7 to 14? 
inches deep ; thickness jth less than depth. 

e, Second foot-hook, from 6 to 10 feet long, and from 6 to 

13 inches deep, thickness ^th less than depth. This 
curve, when of great size, is valuable as^ breast-hooks — 
curved timbers stretching horizontally -^^^Pj and at right 
" angles to the bow-timbers, to support the bow. 

j')f'>f', Knees, the one wing nearly at right angles to the other ; 
from 2 to 9 feet in length of wing ; depth at middle as much 
as possible ; thickne^^s from 4 to 12 inches, — generally re- 
quired about 3^ feet;^o»g, and from 6 to 8 inches thick. 
Knees, when large, suit for high rising floors. 

Fig. li is a valuable piece, and easily procured by bending the 
young plant ; when cut, it forms two second foot-hooks. 

Figs, fi, c, d, e, ai'e suitable, though the part cut ojff by the 
dotted line be awanting. In good work, this plan is often 
followed, and a cross-chock put on. (Vid. s, left side of the 
cross-section of a vessel thus timbered, page 20). By this 



TIMBERS. 



19 



mode of building, vessels can be constructed from much 
straighter timber, and the vessels are superior, from being 
more elastic ; but from the nicety and expense of the work 
and waste of timber, the practice is not much in use. 




20 



STRUCTUUE OF VESSELS. 
Cross-section of a Vessel at midships— knees not inserted. 



Beam 




A first foot-hook alternates mth each floor, and 
second foot-hook, alongside, extending from o to ^ ; 
and a top-timber, or third foot-hook, alternates 
alongside of each second foot-hook, and chock ex- 
tending from q to a. These timbers are bolted to- 
gether, and constitute a frame or double rib ; and 
the skeleton is composed of a series of double ribs 
(several inches separate, of coui'se wider above than 
lower down, as the timbers decrease in thickness), 
to within a little of the bow and stern, where the 
timbers are usually placed singly, \^ithout framing. 



TIMBERS. 



21 



In large vessels a foiu'th futtock is used ; thence 
straighter timber is suitable. 

The knees occupy the position at stretching 
horizontally along the inside of the vessel and end 
of the beams. 

Of British trees, timbers are formed of oak, Span- 
ish chestnut, larch, red-wood pine, red-wood willow 
(the stags-head ozier, Salioc fragilis), and sometimes 
the broad-leafed elm (JJlmus montana) imder wa- 
ter. 

In Britain, crooked oak for timbers is found chief- 
ly in hedge-rows and open forests, where the winds, 
casual injm-y, or overhanging superior branches, have 
thrown the tree, while young, from its natural ba- 
lance; or, by the tree, from open situation, or exci- 
sion of lower branches, parting early into several 
leaders, which, in receding from each other, form 
cm'ves and angular bends. On the Continent of 
Em*ope, in the natural forest, it is chiefly the tops 
of old lofty trees which afford the crooks ; in conse- 
quence, those we import are, for the most part, of a 
free, light, insufficient quality *. 

* As excellent plank can be obtained by importation, the 
grower of naval timber ought to regard the production of crooks 
as a more patriotic occupation than the production of plank. It 
mil generally pay better. 

I < 

i 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



To procure a sufficiency of excellent crooks, every 
person who lias the charge of young plantations of 
timber intended for naval purposes, ought, in the 
more exposed situations not favourable to the growth 
of plank timber, or timber for bending, when the 
plants are from 8 to 15 feet high, to mark out the 
most healthy, suitably formed plants, sufficiently 
close to fill the ground when of the proper size, say 
6 yards apart, and to bend these, as the under 
figures will illustrate. The dotted portion is the 
growth after being bent. 




TIMBERS. 



23 



The bend of floors requiring to be at the middles 
and of angidar bend, see Fig. J^^^E ^^^^^ o^^" 
half the required length, should have the earth removed 
from the bulb of the root, from one or both sides, 
according to circumstances, and the tree and stool 
partially upset to windward, that is, generally south- 
west; (the operator, in effecting this, may be assist- 
ed by a strong pronged instrument) ; then fixed in 
this inclined position, and the earth filled in. This 
inclination may be given at planting, when the 
plants are tall. 

The best mode of securing the larger plants in 
their bent position, is by rods, forked or hooked at 
one end, the other end nailed to a ground-stake ;— 
the upper end, if forked, firmly tied to the bent 
plant by mat or straw rope. Smaller plants may be 
secured to the notched tops of stakes by ligatures ; 
and the smallest, particularly larch, pinned down by 
small stakes with hooked tops. Advantage may also 
be taken of an adjacent tree of small value, and 
which would ultimately be required to be thinned 
out, to tie the bended standard down to the most 
convenient part of its top or stem, lopping off all 
above the ligature, if it interfere with the standard, 
and barking it near the ground, to prevent much 
future growth When the workmen comprehend 



24 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



the required bends, they will fall upon methods of 
fixing the plants in the most suitable position, bet- 
ter adapted to the locality than any directions can 
teach. The plants will require to be fixed down at 
least two years, and bent a little more than what is 
requisite, as in their after-growth they have gene- 
rally a tendency to become straighter, from deposit- 
ing the thickest layers in the hollow of the bend. 
A fine regular curve may be obtained by bending the 
plant for several successive years, a little lower every 
year ; this gradual lowering does not so much check 
the growth of the leader, nor tend so much to cause 
the feeders upon the upper side to push as leaders. 
When oaks are bent, great attention must be paid 
to cut away any ground-shoots, and to cut off or 
twist down any strong feeders that stand perpendi- 
cular on the upper side of the tree ; and also for se- 
veral years afterwards, to look over the trees twice 
a-year, correcting any exuberant feeder, and destroy- 
ing root- shoots. The forester ought to keep in mind 
that his pupils are proverbially pliant, and that, 
should his growing timber not be of the most valu- 
able and most appropriate figure, he must rank ei- 
ther with the negligent or the incapable. 

Ship timbers being generally required of greater 
depth than thickness, that is, broadest in the plane 



TIMBERS. 



25 



of the curve, hedge-row is better adapted to growing 
them than the forest, especially when the trees are 
close in the row. The bend generally takes place 
across the row ; and the bole of the tree acquires a ' 
greater diameter in that direction than in the line 
of the row. If the figure of the top of a tree be very 
elliptical in the horizontal plane, the cross section of 
the bole, instead of being circular, will also be ellip- 
tical (cake-gromi). The lateral spread of the roots 
in thick planted rows being greater than the longi- 
tudinal, also tends to give elliptic bole, the stem 
swelling most on the sides where the strongest roots 
enter, which, of course, always occurs on the sides af- 
fording most nourishment. Forests intended for 
ship timbers might be planted and kept in rows a 
considerable distance apart, with the plants close in 
the row, and thus acquire the elliptic bole. This 
would also facilitate the bending ; by being turned 
a Httle right and left alternately, they would spon- 
taneously, from the weight of the top, and their in- 
cHnation to avoid the shade of each other, increase 
the original bias. Were forests planted in close 
double rows, the plants thick in the row, with wide 
avenues or glades between^ many of the trees would 
acquire crooked boles, and the crooked might be re- 
tained when thinning. Avenues of this description 



26 



STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 



woiild form agreeable diversity from the monotonous 
irregularity of the forest, and be highly pictiu'esque. 

Were close triple rows planted with v^ide glades 
between, having spruce, larch, biich, or other trees 
of more rapid growth than the oak in the mid row, 
and oak in the side rows, the greater part of the oak 
would be tbro^Mi out into fine cm'ves by the over- 
shadowing top of the superior tree. After the oak 
had received a sufficient side bias, the central row, 
wliich of those kinds comes soon to be of value, might 
be removed. 

The easiest way to procure good oak knees is to 
look out in hedge-row and open forest foiy^lants which 
divide into two or four leaders, from ^ to 10 feet 
above ground ; and should the leaders not diverge 
sufficiently, to train them as horizontally as possible 
for several feet, by rods stretching across the top, or 
by fixing them down by stakes ; see follomng figures. 
Figs, a, f, are di'a^m to a smaller scale than e, d; 
of com'se, a stem, after dividing, never extends in 
length below the division, 



TIMBERS. 



^7 




When grown, the main stem, either used whole, 
sawn in two, or quartered, will form one wing of the 
knee, and the bent branch the other ; see figs, c, d. 
The dotted lines shew the saw section. Particular 
attention must be paid to prevent oaks from sepa- 
rating into more than fom- leaders, and also to train 
up these leaders a considerable height, without al- 
lowing them to divide again, retaining always nu- 
merous feeders ; thus, when the tree acquires size, 



^8 STRUCTURE OF VESSELS. 

many valuable crooks g, h, i, will be formed above 
the knees. It is necessary, however, to guard 
against training the branches to too great a height, 
as, when so, they run much risk of being twisted and 
torn by high winds. 

Knees may also be obtained by cropping the top 
from plants that have side branches similar to 
and training these branches for leaders as above di- 
rected. In this case, the section, where the top is 
cut off, must not be too large, and the branches, 
either two or four, well knotted to the trunk, or the 
situation sheltered, otherwise the trunk at the sec- 
tion may be split down by the strain of the wind on 
the new leaders. Also, in healthy growing trees of 
considerable size, which have spreading tops, and 
which are not to be cut down for a considerable time, 
the forester, if he have a good eye, may, by lopping 
off a few branches here and there throughout the top, 
throw the greater part of the boughs into condition 
to become knees, or valuable crooks, when of size. 
This is of most material consequence to the ulti- 
mate value of half-grown oak trees, in open situa- 
tions, and ought to be particularly studied by the 
superintendent, as, when allowed to run into very 
numerous stemmy branches, without direction or cur- 
tailment the top, instead of being ultimately of con- 



TIMBERS. 



29 



siderable value as timber, is of none. Directions in 
writing will scarcely suffice to teach a forester this 
part of his business ; he must consider attentively the 
knee figiu-es and bends we have furnished, fix them 
in his memory, and use every eligible means to ob- 
tain them. Knees, of all descriptions of oak timber 
are in the greatest request. We have known them 
purchased at 7s. per computed solid foot, which, from 
the plan of measuring, is as much as 10s. per real 
solid foot. The prevailing inattention to judicious 
training will continue to occasion the supply of 
knees to be short of the demand, and thence the 
price high, provided some change does not take place 
in the structure of vessels, or iron knees be adopted, 
which are now sometimes used, or vessels, with the 
exception of the deck and rigging, be formed of iron 
altogether, which we have seen do very well in inland 
navigation. 

As crooked round oak timber of the natural length 
is extremely unmanageable, and its distant transport 
very expensive, it is desirable that it be squared and 
cut in lengths suited to its ultimate use, where 
grown. This requires a thorough knowledge of the 
necessary curves, to which the figs. p. 19, will afford 
considerable assistance. However, the superintendent 
j of any extensive fall of naval timber either should be 

i 



30 



STEUCTUEE OF VESSELS. 



a shipwright who has had practice in Hning off tim- 
bers, or should have passed several months in a dock- 
yard during the timbering of vessels, observing even- 
piece that is put to use. 

As most part of the timbers of a vessel have their 
sides squared, the cutter cannot err much in hevdng 
away the sides in the plane of, and at right angles 
to, the cm^ves, at least as deep as the sap-wood reaches, 
thus leading only a little sap-wood on the angles ; 
the sap-wood, in all cases (except in those small craft 
used in carrying lime, vdiich preserves from rot), 
being worse than useless ; by its decay not only 
weakening the vessel from the want of entireness of 
the timbers, but also acting as a ferment to fmther 
corruption. 

In om' directions for obtaining ciuved and angu- 
lar bent timbers, we may be thought to have been a 
little too minute with the dunensions and fioTues : 
under the hand of the shipwright, or person of 
skill, a tree of almost any possible bend cuts out to 
valuable pm-pose : what is wanted is crooked tim- 
ber, fi^e of large knots ; — first and second foot-hooks 
and knees are, hovrever, most in demand. 



( 31 ) 



PAUT II. 

BRITISH FOREST TREES USED AS NAVAL 
TI^IBER. 

Oak — Quercus. 

Oak appears to be the most prevalent tree about 
the middle of the north temperate zone, growing, na- 
turally, upon almost every soil, exceptmg some of the 
sterile sandy flats. With the exception of the pines, 
it is by far the most useful kind of tree, almost ba- 
lancing the accommodating figure of stem, and ma- 
nageable quality of the pine timber, by its greater 
strength and durability, and excelling the pines in 
value of bark. It is not easy to determine whether 
there be distinct British species in the genus Qiiercus; 
but, at least, there are several breeds, or families, or 
grouped resemblances, which, though the individuals 
may slightly vary, and though a gradation, or con- 
nection, may be traced am*ong these families them- 
selves, yet possess general character sufficiently 
marked to support names. Botanists, v/ho are so 
prompt and so well prepared with their classes, or- 

3 



32 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



ders, genera, species, varieties, long before they ac- 
quire much knowledge of what they are so ready to 
classify, or be able to distinguish between species and 
variety, or know if species and Variety be really dis- 
tinct, divide the oak of this country into two species, 
Qiiercus Rohur and Q. sessiliftora, the former with 
long fruit-stalks, and hard, strong, durable timber, 
the late leafing old kind once so prevalent in the 
island : the latter an earlier leafing, faster growing 
kind, timber inferior, leaves petiolate, fruit sessile, 
not common, but supposed native. We consider 
there is no foundation for this specific distinction ; 
we have met with oaks with various lengths of 
fruit-stalks : Besides, short and long fruit- stalks is 
a very common difference among seedling varieties. 
The families or breeds which we have observed in 
the indigenous oak resemble what are found among 
almost every kind of vegetable, and graduate into 
each other, — those farthest removed in appearance, 
no doubt having power to commix by the pollen. 
The most remarkable distinction we have observed 
is in the colour of the bark, whether inclining to 
white or black. The variety or breed with grey 
white bark, often very smooth and shining, and some- 
times beautifully clouded with green, has also a dif- 
ferent form of leaf and figure of top from those with 



OAK. 



33 



blackish bark, and we have no doubt will also afford 
a different quality of timber. Those with blackish 
dingy bark vary considerably from each other, some 
being of very luxuriant growth and heavy foliage, 
with thick fleshy bark, affording much tannin ; others, 
though in favourable situation, of stunted growth, 
thin dry bark, and delicate constitution, often being 
nipped in the twigs by the frost : some having a 
round easy figure of top, even with pendulous branch- 
ing, others extremely stiff and angular in the 
branching ; some with the most elegant foliage, 
deeply sinuated and finely waved, others with the 
clumsiest, most misshapen foliage, almost as if 
opposite principles had presided at their forming. 
We have observed the earlier kinds, with the dark 
bark, to have generally the easiest figure of top ; the 
angular branching and stiffness of figure of top 
being greatest in those sooty -barked late kinds, most 
disposed to take two growths in the season, the 
spring and autumnal, which, from the proneness of 
these kinds to be affected in the terminal bud by mon- 
strosities, and sometimes also to be nipped in the 
point of the unripened autumn shoot by the frost, are 
generally thrown out in different directions, the tree, 
from these causes, growing awkwardly and irregularly, 
and by fits and starts. 

Besides the indigenous Quercus Robu?', we have 

c 



34 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



a number of kinds, termed distinct species, growing 
in Britain, of foreign derivation— the Tm'kisli oak, 
Quercus Cerris ; the Lucombe oak, Q. sempey^vu 
rens ; the scarlet-leaved American, Q. coccinea ; the 
evergreen, Q. Ilex, and several others. The Tmrkish 
and I^ucombe resemble each other, but the latter 
generally continues green till the spring, when the 
old leaves wither, a little before the young appear : 
Botanists make them varieties. We consider the 
Turkish oak the most valuable and elegant of these 
foreign kinds. The leaves are generally very long 
and slender, deeply and widely sinuated, and the 
teeth or salient angles sometimes undulated, having 
a curled appearance ; yet there are some individuals 
with broad, short, flat leaves, not differing in figure 
from those of the common oak, but the tree in other 
respects not different from the Turkish, being easily 
distinguished from the common oak by the reddish 
hairy appearance of the developing shoot, the scales 
of the bud having a hair-like extension, visible in each 
leaf axilla. The acorns are also bristled like echini, 
with this scaly prolongation. The timber is tough 
and clean, resembling the white American, and suit- 
able for staves. The stem and branches are gene- 
rally very straight, as the terminal bud seldom fails, 
and the growing proceeds steadily, without much 
autumnal shoot. 



OAK. 



35 



As oaks run more hazard in transplanting than 
most other kinds of trees, the greater care is neces- 
sary in procui'ing well -rooted, short, vigorous plants ; 
in having the soil free of stagnating water, in tim- 
ing and executing the work in a proper manner, and 
in hoeing around the plant, keeping the ground clean 
and friahle on the surface during the first two or 
three seasons. As young oaks grow much more 
vigorously under considerable closeness and shelter, 
and as the plants are expensive, it is proper to plant, 
along with them, a mixture of cheaper plants, larches 
or other pines, which also sooner come to be of a 
little value, to be removed gradually as tlie young 
wood thickens up. In bleak exposed situations, it 
is well to plant the ground first with pines, and when 
these attain a height of 6 or 8 feet, to cut out a 
number, not in lines, but irregularly, and plant the 
oaks in their stead, gradually pruning and thinning 
away the remaining firs as the oaks rise. In gene- 
ral, pitting is preferable to slitting ; but when the 
plants are very small, and the ground wet-bottomed 
(with close subsoil), liable to become honeycomby 
vdth frost, slitting secures the plant better from be- 
ing thrown out. 

Oak is by far the best adapted tree for hedge-row, 
or for being grown by the sides of arable fields, both 

c 2 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



with respect to its own. qualities, and to the growth 
of the adjacent crops or hedge. The bark is much 
thicker, and more valuable in proportion to its bulk 
here, than in close forest, and the timber more crook- 
ed, which is desiderated in oak, but which unfits 
most other trees for much else than firewood. The 
oak is, besides, as generally suited for the variety of 
soils which lines crossing a country in all directions 
must embrace : this is matter of consideration, as few 
planters have skill to locate a number of kinds pro- 
perly. It will also be thought, by reason of British 
feeling, the most interesting and ornamental ; nor is 
it to be overlooked, that, by the roots taking a more 
downward direction than other trees, the plough has 
greater liberty to proceed around, and the moisture 
and pabulum necessary to evaporation and growth 
are not drawn from the ground so superficially; 
thence the minor plants adjacent do not suffer so 
much. We have observed, too, that, when all cause 
of injiu-y by root suction was cut off by a deep ditch, 
the undergrowth seemed less injured by shade of 
oak than of some other trees. The apple and the 
pear only, appear to be as little detrimental to the 
surrounding crop as the oak. The ash, the elm, the 
beech, in Scotland the most general hedge-row trees, 
are the most improperly located ; the ash and the 



OAK. 



37 



elm as being the most pernicious to the crops, and 
the beech as being of little or no value grown in 
hedge-row. In clays, most kinds of trees, particu- 
larly those whose roots spread superficially, are more 
detrimental to the crop around than in the more friable 
earths, o^\ing to the roots in clays foraging at less 
depth, and to the clay being a worse conductor of 
moisture than other earths. The disadvantages at- 
tending the planting of hedge - row with oaks are, that 
their removal is not in general so successfid as that 
of other trees, especially to this exposed dry situa- 
tion, and that the progress of the plant, for a num- 
ber of years, is but slow ; and thus for a longer time 
liable to injury from cattle. Fair success may, how- 
ever, be commanded, by previously preparing the 
roots, should the plants be of good size ; tmnsplant- 
ing them when the ground is neither too moist nor 
too dry, and in autumn, as soon as the leaves have 
dropped or become brown, particularly in dry ground; 
perfonning the operation with the utmost care not 
to fracture the roots, and to retain a considerable 
ball ; opening pits of considerable size for their re- 
ception, much deeper than the roots, and should a 
little water lurk in the bottom of the pit, it will be 
highly beneficial, provided none stagnate so high as 
the roots ; firming the earth well around the roots 



38 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



after it is carefully shaken in among the fibres ; 
and, especially, keeping the sui'face of the ground, 
within four feet of the plant, friable and free from 
weeds, by repeated hoeings dm'ing the first two or 
three summers. Of course, if you suffer the plant 
to waver with the wind, or to be rubbed and bruised 
by cattle, or by the appendages of the plough, it is 
folly to expect success. On this account, stout plants, 
from 8 to 1 2 feet high, the branches more out of the 
way of injury, may, in sheltered situations, mider care- 
ful management, be the most proper size. IMuch 
also depends on procuring stm'dy plants from exposed 
situations. We have experienced better success vath. 
hardy plants from the exposed side of a hill, having 
unfibred carrot roots much injm-ed by removal, than 
with others from a sheltered morass, having the most 
numerously fibred, well extricated roots. In cases, 
where, from the moistness and coldness of the gromid 
in early summer, there was a torpor of root suction, 
and, in consequence, the developing leaves withering 
up under an arid atmosphere, we have attempted to 
stimulate the root action by application of warm 
water, covering up the smface of the ground with dry 
litter to confine the heat ; we have also endeavom'ed 
to encourage the root action by increasing the tempe- 
rature of cold light-colom'ed soils, by strewing soot 



OAK. 



on the surface for a yard or two around the plant, 
and by nearly covering a like distance by pieces of 
black trap rock, from three to six inches in diameter. 
The success from the pieces of trap appeared greatest; 
they diminished the evaporation from the ground, 
thence less loss of heat and of necessary moisture ; 
and being at once very receptive of radiant caloric, 
and a good conductor, they quickly raised the tem- 
perature of the soil in the first half of the summer, 
when bodies, from the increasing power of the sun, 
are receiving much more heat by radiation than they 
are giving out by radiation. 

The oak should never be pruned severely, and 
this rule should be particularly observed when the 
tree is young. We have known several of the most 
intelligent gardener-foresters in Scotland err greatly 
in this ; and, by exclusively pruning the oak plants, 
from misdirected care, throw them far behind the 
other kmds of timber with which they were mixed 
in planting. There is no other broad-leaved tree 
which we have seen suffer so much injury in its 
growth, by severe pruning, as the oak. The cause 
of this may be something of nervous susceptibility, 
or connected life, all the parts participating when 
one is injured ; it may be owing to the tendency to 
putrescency of the sap-wood, or rather of the sap, the 
part around the section often decaying, especially 



40 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



when the plant is not vigorous ; or it may arise from 
some torpor or restricted connection of the roots, 
which, when robhed of their affiliated branch, do not 
readily forage or give their foraging to the support of 
the nearest remaining branch, or to the general top 
of the tree, but throw out a brush of twigs near the 
section. 

Although the oak often lingers in the growth 
while young, yet, after it attains to six inches or a 
foot in diameter, its progress is generally faster than 
most other kinds of hard wood, not appearing to 
suffer so much as others from excessive fruit-bearing. 
The value of tbe timber, and also of the bark, and 
the slight comparative injury occasioned to the un- 
der crop, whether of copse, grass, corn, or roots, inde- 
pendently of any patriotic motives, or religious re- 
verence lingering in our sensorium from the time of 
the Druids, should give a preference to this ti'ee for 
planting, wherever the soil and climate are suitable, 
over every other kind, with the exception of larch and 
willow, which, in particular soils, will pay better. 

The planter of oak should throw in a considerable 
proportion of Turkish oak into the more favom^able 
soils and situations. The beautiful clustered, fretted 
foliage of this species gives a richness, and, in winter, 
when it retains the withered leaf, a warmth of co- 
louring to our young plantations beyond any other 



OAK. 



41 



of oui' hardy trees and shiiibs. We have had this 
kind, eighteen years old, equal in size to larches of 
the same age in the same ground. We cut down 
several of these oaks of about 8 inches in diameter, 
and compared the timber and bark with those of 
common oak of the same age. The timber was 
clean, very tough and flexible, with much flashy and 
we should suppose might suit for plank when ma- 
tured ; at any rate, from the splendid shew of the 
laminae (flash ), it woidd form beautiful panneUing 
and furniture. It shmnk, however, extremely while 
dr} ing, which must have been partly owing to the 
quick growing and youngness, it thence consisting 
almost entirely of sap-wood, and this sap-wood al- 
most entirely of sap ; and, when left in the sun in 
the round state, after peeling, rent nearly to splint- 
ers, — much more than the common oak under the 
same exposm-e. The bark was about double the 
thickness and weight of that of the common oak of 
equal size, and, in proportion to its weight, consisted 
much more of that cellular or granular substance 
most productive of tannin. The varieties of com- 
mon oak with thick bark are generally of inferior 
quahty of timber ; but they are by fer the finest, 
most luxuriant growing trees, with rich heavy foliage, 
and appear as giants standing in the same row with 

3 



42 



BRITISH FOUKST TREES. 



the thin barked varieties, though planted at the 
same time. 

To the naturalist the oak is an object of pecidiar 
interest, from the ciu*ious phenomena connected with 
the economy of numerous insects who depend upon 
it for existence. It would be tedious to describe the 
different apples, galls, excrescences, tufts, and other 
monstrosities which appear upon the oak. It is 
something like enchantment ! These insects, merely 
by a puncture and the deposition of an egg, or drop 
of fluid, turning Nature from her law, and compell- 
ing the Genius of the Oak to construct of living or- 
ganized oak matter, instead of leaves and twigs, 
fairy domes and temples, in which their embryo 
young may lie for a time enshrined. 

Spanish CimsT'S^T-rr-Castanea vulgaris, (Fagus Cas- 
tanea, L.) 

Spanish or sweet Chestnut, sometimes named 
Chestnut Oak, sometimes included in the genus Fa- 
gus, seems at least a connecting link between Quer- 
cus and Fagus. This valuable timber tree, the largest 
growing, and, in many places, also the most common 
in the south of Eiurope, and which was once so abun- 

2 



SPANISH CHESTNUT. 



43 



dant in England that many of the largest of our 
ancient piles are wooded of it, has been for several 
ages much on the decrease in this country ; owing, 
probably, to a slight refrigeration of climate, which, 
during this period, appears to have taken place, pre- 
venting the ripening of the seed, or, in more rigor- 
ous winters, following damp, cold summers, destroy- 
ing all the young plants (at least the part above 
ground), whose succulent unripened shoots and more 
delicate general constitution, from immatured annual 
round of life, or imperfect concoction of juices, have 
not powder to withstand the severe cold sometimes 
occurring near the surface of the earth. A very ge- 
neral destruction of the young plants of this kind of 
tree has occm-red more than once within our me- 
mory from severe frost ; but as the climate, a few 
years back, rather improved, and the spirit of plant- 
ing became more general, a considerable number of 
plants of this tree have attained height and hardi- 
hood to withstand the cold, excepting in the points 
of the annual shoot, which we notice are again nip- 
ped (year 1830). This may give encouragement to 
more extended planting, as the tree is handsome, 
and, in most places, where water does not abound 
nor stagnate, acquires great size in comparatively 
short time. It is said to prefer a gravelly or stone 



44 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



rubble subsoil, but we have seen it in rich clay, in 
row with large beeches, even exceed them in size. 
We should prefer for it any deep friable dry soil. 

There is one cuxumstance connected vnth this 
timber in this country, at least in Scotland, which 
must prevent its general use in ship plank, and be 
of material injury to it for ship timbers ; this is, 
that few trees of it of size are found mthout the 
timber being shaky or split, some to such a degree 
that the annual rings or concentric growths have se- 
parated from each other. This appears to be owing 
to om* climate being colder than what is suitable to 
the nature of the plant ; the sap in the stem possi- 
bly freezing in severe w^eather and splitting, or se- 
vering the growths of the timber, but more probably 
occasioned by the season being too short, and too 
moist and cold, to ripen or fill up vdth. dense matter, 
sufficiently, the frame of the annual growths ; thence, 
as each ring of sap-wood, prematm'ely hastened by 
the torpor of moisture and cold, turns to red or ma- 
tured wood, and, in so doing, dries considerably 
ivithin the other rings of moist sap-w^ood, the con- 
tractile force may be sufficient to separate this growth 
from the next external sap growth, the cohesion ex- 
isting between the tissue or fabric of the growth 
being much stronger than the cohesion between one 



SPANISH CHESTNUT. 



45 



growth and another. The uncommon dryness of 
the matured wood, and moistness of the sap-wood of 
this tree, and smallness of the number of sap-wood 
rings, commonly only from 2 ta 6 in this country, 
incline us to believe that this is the cause of the in- 
sufficiency or defect ; and that, in a milder, drier cli- 
mate, the sap-wood rings will be found to be more 
numerous, and thus, independent of a better first 
ripening, affording a longer time for their cells to be 
more filled up mth an unctuous matter (which pre- 
vents the shrinking) gradually deposited while they 
convey the sap, the sap-wood rings being the part of 
the timber through which the sap circulates. As 
proof of this unctuous deposit or filling up, we ob- 
serve that dry sap-w^ood imbibes moisture much 
quicker, and in greater quantity, than dry mature. 
We think this premature maturity (if we may so 
term it) of timber in cold countries, a general law» 
Our larch, originally from the Apennine, has not 
more than one-third of the number of sap-rings of 
I our Scots fir, indigenous in Mar and Rannoch 
mountains ; and om* narrow-leafed, or English elm, 
said to have been introduced from the Holy Land 
in time of the Crusades, has not more than one-half 
of the number of our indigenous broad-leafed, or 
Scots elm. From the sap-growths of Labumumj 



46 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



scarcely exceeding in number those of the Spanish 
chestnut, we should suppose that it has been moved 
northward, or that the proper climate has left it. 
We have observed that moist, or water-^soaked 
ground, has influence, as well as chmate, to deprive 
the albmumn vessels sooner of then- living functions, 
inducing that torpor of tubes, or semi-^ital condi- 
tion, in wiiich they only sen-e to suppoi't the more 
active parts, and constitute what is called Mature 
Timber. 

It is a general opinion that Spanish chestnut soon 
takes rot in situations where the roots come in con- 
tact with water. This appears to result from moist 
soil inducing the too early matm-ing of the timber 
abeady alluded to, and occasioning shaky insufficient 
fabric, which soon corrupts. We have observed oaks 
which had fewer layers of sap-wood, from gromng in 
damp situations, have the timber of inferior quality, 
and sometimes of a shaky, brownish description, 
when cut across, throwing out a du'ty brownish li* 
quid or stain. 

From the use of the Spanish chestnut in the 
Spanish navy, both in planking and timbering, and 
from the roofing beams and ornamental work of 
Westminster Hall being also of this wood, w^e should 
suppose it was not so liable to this defect of rents in 



SPANISH CHESTNtTT. 



47 



the timber in milder climates. Chestnut timber is a 
good deal similar to oak, though not quite so reedy and 
elastic, but is destitute of the large laminae or plates 
(flash J, which, radiating from the pith to the out- 
side, become so prominent to view in the oak when 
the longitudinal section is perpendicular to the out- 
side, in the plane of the laminss. It is, we should 
think, as capable of supporting weight, when stretch- 
ing as a beam, as the oak, and is equally, if not 
more durable, many beams of it existing in very old 
buildings midecayed ; it is said even to have been 
taken out fresh where it had stood 600 years as 
lintels. Earth stakes of it are also very durable. 
It possesses one advantage over oak, which must re- 
commend it for ship-building, that is, having much 
less proportion of sap-wood ; and, from the matured 
wood containing much less sap or moistm*e, we should 
suppose it not so liable to dry rot, or that more 
simple means, or shorter period, would suffice for 
seasoning it, so as to be proof against this evil. Spa- 
nish chestnut is as yet little known among British 
shipwrights ; but were a quantity of it in the mar- 
ket free of the unsoundness we have alluded to, 
its merits would soon become known. The bark is 
used by tanners, but is said not to equal that of oak. 



48 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



Beech-Tree — Fagiis sylvatica. 

This hardy tree occupies fully as wide a range, 
both of soil and climate, as the oak, and is generally 
the fastest growing, most vigorous of all oiu* hard- 
wood kinds, prospering on all soils, on the dry and 
moist, the aluminous, the calcareous, the sihceous, 
provided water does not stagnate. It combines mag- 
nificence mth beauty, being at once the Hercules 
and Adonis of our Sylva. The timber of our beech, 
while green, is by far the hardest of our large grow- 
ing trees, and, in the American forest, the members 
of the beechen family match better than those of any 
other, with the perseverance of the ruthless Yankee ; 
the roots retaining the hardness deeper in the earth 
than those of any other tree, and being so plaited and 
netted throughout the ground for a considerable 
space around the bulb, that it is next to impossible 
to trench or dig over the soil till they have decayed. 

As we have before stated, the timber of the beech- 
tree soon corrupts if it is not speedily dried, or kept 
in water after being cut down, and is equally liable 
to corruption in the tree when deprived of life by 
w^ounds or other injmy. Beech has a matm-ed and 
sap wood, although they are not very distinguishable, 
being nearly of one colour. The former has consi- 



BEECH. 



4^ 



derable dm*ability when kept dry, the latter is speedi- 
ly consumed by worming. 

The planter of beech should procure the kind * 
with yellow- coloured wood, termed by joiners Yellow 
Beech, in opposition to the kind with white wood, 
called White Beech. The yellow grows faster and 
straighter, and is cleaner and freer of black knots, 
and also more pleasantly worked than the white, but 
it corrupts much sooner in the bark when cut down. 
This variety of beech, when properly trained, is pro- 
bably the most profitable hard- wood that we can 
raise ; when planked, it bends pleasantly under the 
shipwright to the curvature of the vessel's side. The 
tree is also much superior in size and grace of out- 
line to the white. There are few planters who need 
be put in mind that beech of small size, or of short or 
crooked stem, is the least valuable of all timber. 
Whoever plants with a view to profit will, therefore, 
throw in only as many beech plants as may ultimate- 
ly be required for standards, and these in the bosom 
of plantations ; as it is seldom that beech attains to 
much value in hedge-row or on the outskirts of woods, 

* We have often preferred the terms kind, breed, family, indi- 
vidual, to genus, species, variety, subvariety, as the former seem 
less definite. Were nature true to the latter classification as em- 
ployed by botanists, it would be convenient. 

D 



50 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



from its proneness when so situated to ramify and 
grow crooked. It is, however, quite possible, with a 
little early attention, to rear beech as straight and 
clean as to be valuable, on the outskirts, where it forms 
a beautiful fringe to the plantation, and aifords ex- 
cellent shelter. 

Elm — Ulmus. — Broad-leaved, or Scotch, or Wych 
Elm — Ulmus montana. 

This beautiful and most graceful tree, whose 
favourite locality is the damp, deep, accumulated 
soil, free of stagnant water, at the bottom of decli- 
vities, is, together with its sister, the small- leaved 
kind, the English elm, ^^^hen so situated, the 
fastest growing of om* hard-wood trees. Both de- 
light in easy or gravelly soils, though the small-leaved 
vdll also prosper in the more adhesive, the allmdal 
and diluvial clays. 

There are a number of kinds of elm grooving in 
this country, differing rather more from the common 
run of U. montana and U. campestris^ than what oc- 
curs among seedling varieties of untamed plants ; but 
as these have very probably a power of mingling by 
the pollen, thence not specifically different, we leave to 



ELM. 



51 



botanists to explain their nice peculiarities, and think 
it sufficient to rank the whole under montana and 
campestris, especially as the timber seems to range 
into two kinds — Montana, with large leaves, heavy 
annual shoots, somewhat zig-zag, thick towards the 
point, thence drooping a little from gravity ; having 
much sap-wood, and timber of great longitudinal 
toughness, but, from the great quantity of sap-wood, 
and want of lateral adhesion, it splits considerably in 
drying ; — Campestris, with smaller leaves, more 
numerous straight annual shoots, which are small to- 
wards the point, thence more erect, has but little sap- 
wood, and the timber also possessing greater lateral 
adhesion, and less longitudinal, it does not crack 
much in drying. We have noticed one broad-leaved 
kind or variety, whose annual twigs often spring out 
in tufts or knots from one point ; this seems to arise 
from the shoot of the preceding year sometimes dy- 
ing, probably nipped by frost, and the tuft of shoots 
springing out from the knot at the lower extremity 
of the dead twig. From this cause, it has not the 
gi-aceful easy spread of branches of the U. 7nontana, 
but assumes a more angular, stiff, upright figure. 
We have heard this named Dutch Elm, but it does 
not quite correspond with the elm in the parks at 
London said to be Dutch. We consider it a kind 

D 2 



32 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



not very nearly allied to U. montana, yet the above 
peculiarity of appearance may only arise from indi- 
vidual tenderness, and may not be accompanied by 
other difference of character. ' 

The elm, more especially the broad-leaved Scotch 
elm, has a peculiar fan-like sloping-to-one-side spread 
of branches, most perceptible while young ; hence 
the tree when grown up, has generally a slight bend- 
ing in the stem, which renders it very fitting for 
floor- timbers of vessels, the only part of a ship, ex- 
cepting bottom plank, to which it is applicable, as it 
soon decays above water. Its great toughness and 
strength, however, render it good floors. 

There are some kinds of foreign elm w^hich de- 
serve attention. Some time ago we planted several 
of these, and lately cut down one of about six inches 
diameter, which we found a great deal harder and 
stronger timber than our U. montana. We had 
this kind under the name of the Broad-leaved Ame- 
rican. The bark was rather lighter in colour, and 
smoother, than U. viontana ; the leaves were rough 
and large, and the annual shoots extremely luxuri- 
ant; but, probably owing to climate, or difference of 
circumstance, the exposed situation where we had it 
growing being very unlike the close American fo- 
rest, it did not carry up its vigour of growing into 



ELM. 



the top, although the top was healthy, but conti- 
nued throwing out numerous annual shoots, five or 
six feet long, from the bulb and side of stem, which 
disposition we did not succeed in correcting by prun- 
ing. This did not seem to arise from grafting, as 
some of the shoots broke out higher up than the graft 
must have been, and there was no difference between 
the lower and upper shoots. 

U, montana, when come to some size, on the 
primary branches being lopped off, like the oak, of- 
ten throws out a brush of twigs from the stem, and 
these twigs impeding the transit of the sap, the brush 
increases, and the stem thickens considerably, in con- 
sequence of a warty-like deposit of wood forming at 
the root of the tmgs. This excrescence, when of 
size, after being carefully seasoned in some cool moist 
place, such as the north re-entering angle of a build- 
ing, exposed to the dripping from the roof, forms a 
richer veneer for csbinet-work than any other tim- 
ber. This disposition to form brush and excrescence 
might be given by art to almost any kind of tree, 
excepting the coniferse and beech, and might be 
made a source of considerable profit. This could 
easily be effected by slitting, pricking, and bruising 
the bark at certain periods of the season. A very 
beautiful waved timber might also be formed by 



54 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



twisting the stems of trees tight up with round ropes, 
the screw circles of the rope not being quite close to 
each other ; the ropes to remain several seasons, then 
to be kept off for a season or two, and again applied. 
The practice of forming w^arty excrescences might 
be combined with that of forming waiy fibres, with 
the finest effect. Of course, those trees with timber 
of rich colour, and susceptible of high polish, would 
be the most suitable for undergoing this process. 
U, campestris also throws out a brush, but from the 
great inferiority of the timber in beauty, and from 
its unfitness for cabinet-work, it would be useless to 
encourage it by art. Some plants of montana, not 
covered with brush, have a curious unevenness (laced 
appearance) of the timber in the stem, which renders 
it a beautiful cabinet plank. 



Narrow-leaved or English Elm — Ulmus campestris. 

There are few Scotchmen, as they migrate south- 
ward, who have failed to remark the tame subdued 
appearance of the landscape of the middle and south 
of England, where a number of straggling tufted- 
headed poles, along with windmill towers, occupy 



ELM. 



55 



the horizon. These straggling, tall, tufted poles, 
stuck in, perpendicular to the flat surface, are com- 
posed of living narrow-leaved elm-trees, which the 
perseverance of the peasantry in quest of billets, has 
reduced to this condition. Some varieties of this 
elm, however, when uncurtailed in lateral expansion, 
attain the grandest development, stretching forth a 
hundred giant arms aloft, supporting masses of foli- 
age, fantastically magnificent. 

In the neighhom'hood of London, this tree is at- 
tacked by an insect, which, running along the out- 
side of the timber, within the bark, in a few sea- 
sons deprives the individual of life, the bark peeling 
oflP in large gu'dles, threatening to bereave this capi- 
tal of the finest ornaments of its parks. We have 
observed, in different kinds of growing trees, such as 
the apple and oak, the roads of insects traversing be- 
tween the rhind and wood, although the individual 
thus affected appeared to suffer little or no injury ; and 
we consider the agency of the insect in the destruc- 
tion of the Enghsh elm around London to be mere- 
ly sequent to disease — perhaps a taint of corruption, 
or slight putrescency of the sap, occasioned by the 
impurities of the London air, assisted by the hard 
beaten state of the ground ^ above the roots. Should 

* In those we observed, we considered this last circumstance 
had a considerable share as a predisposing cause of the attack of 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



nny one examine the inside of the bark of a cut tree, 
when corruption has just begun with the bark, and 
see how thoroughly it is undermined by insects, he 
will, we think, admit the strong probability, that the 
insect is only subordinate in the destruction of those 
line old elms around London. We do not wonder 
at the condition of the trees — it would not surprise 
us if the human race in London were swept off by 
some similar secondary cause. 

The small-leaved elm has great disposition to 
spread by suckers from the roots, and thus extended 
has become very prevalent throughout most parts of 
England, in the broad wastes (termed fences), which, 
from the indolent husbandry, consequent to tithes 
and the want of leases, generally surround the pas- 
ture and corn fields, but which are so necessary to 
these unvaried plains, as some prominent object, or 
characteristic land-mark, on which the a7?ior jpatrics 
of the population may perch ; the finest remem- 
brances and associations of youth being mixed up 
with these bushy fiower- covered enclosm'es. 
- It is with country as with society, strong lasting 

the worm. Forests of Pinus sylvestris are sometimes destroyed 
by insects under the bark, in cases where it is difficult to decide 
whether external circumstances, such as a dry warm season, has 
been promotive of the increase of the insect itself, or has in- 
duced some disorder in the plant, rendering the juices more 
suitable aliment to the worm. 



ELM. 



57 



attachment occurs only where there is individuality 
of character to give distinctness of image. 

*' Oh ! how should I my true love know, 
From other one ?" 

There is design and utility in this fascination 
of peculiarity. If individual distinction be but 
strongly marked, it signifies little of what character. 
Love of countiy often hangs upon featiues of the 
harshest and most fearful description, with which the 
associations and feelings become entwisted, as attach- 
ment to individual is often rivetted by fierce, austere, 
or even morose qualities. 

The narrow- leaved elm is valuable for forming the 
blocks and dead-eyes *, and other wooden furnitm'e 
of rigging, being particularly suitable for these pur- 
poses, from its hard and adhesive nature, and indis- 
position to crack or spht, when exposed to sun and 
weather. 

We have observed many minor distinctions, per- 
haps individual, in the above kinds of elm, in figure, 
size and smoothness of leaf, in colour and roughness 

* Some nautical or technical terms have unavoidably crept into 
this work ; we shall not presume to think any explanation neces- 
sary : Britannia would blush jusquau blanc des yeux, to the tips 
of the fingers and toes, did she think it were doubted that any 
of her sons, not doomed to unceasing mechanical labour, were 
unacquainted with these. 

3 



58 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



of bark, &c. Some varieties or individuals of the 
English elm have the bark of the young twigs and 
branches covered with corky ridges : others want this 
excrescence. 



Redwood Willow, or Stag's Head Ozier, — Salix 
fragilis *, 

This kind of willow, once very common in the 
alluvial parts of Scotland, before the introduction of 
Salix alba, S. Musselliana, &;c., is probably the 
most profitable timber that can be planted in such 
soils. It was our district's maxim, that " the wil- 
low will purchase the horse before any other timber 
purchase the saddle," on account of its very quick 
growth, and the value of its timber. It deHghts in 

* It is termed by our professors Salix fragilis, or Crack Wil- 
low, from the small branches breaking easily at the junction of 
the annual growth— or, perhaps. Crack Willow, from the branches 
breaking with considerable report ; or from the wood, while burn- 
ing, fi-equently detonating or crackling, from the expansion 
of some aerial fluid within the fibres. Though named by 
their sapience fragilis, it is not weaker than other large grow- 
ing willows, but stronger and denser ; and, being harder in the 
small branches, they do not bend, but break when their bark and 
alburnum is driest, in winter. The timber is superior to that of 
Salix alba, or of any other large growing willow we are acquaint- 
ed with, and is sufficiently pliant and tough. 



RED-WOOD WILLOW. 



39 



the rich easy clay by the sides of our poxios (the old 
Scottish term for those sluggish natural drains of 
our alluvial districts), thromng out its fibril roots 
in matted-like abundance under the water : it also 
flourishes in the more sandy and gravelly alluvion, 
by the sides of rivers and streams, which does not 
become too dry in summer. 

This tree, similar to some others which, like it, are 
continued by cuttings or layers, is, in certain sea- 
sons, especially when of considerable size, subject to 
a derangement in the sap-concoction, which leads 
to the death of some of its more recent parts, parti- 
cularly the uppermost branches ; whence its withered 
top sometimes assumes the appearance of a stag's 
head of horns, which, from the indestructibility of 
these dead branches, it retains for many years ; new 
branches springing out from the sides, of much luxu- 
riance. This disease, similar to canker in the genus 
Pyrus, is generally concentrated to certain places of 
the bark and alburnum, the portion of branch above 
these places thence withering, the connection with 
the root being cut off; though sometimes the points 
of the twigs appear to be nipped, without any pre- 
vious disease. From these affections, and also on 
account of the branches and stem being often rifted 
by the winds, the tree is frequently found with rot 



60 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



in the stem, when it has stood long. It agrees in 
this vAtli the larch, that, though its timber, when cut 
down, or withered and dried, as on the top of the 
tree, is little liable to corruption, yet it is very sub- 
ject to it, as part of the stem of the lining tree, per- 
haps under certain circumstances of semi-.\itality. 
To determine whether this tree, raised from seed, 
would be liable to these disorders, the same as when 
continued by shps, would be an interesting, though 
tedious, experiment. We never have seen any young 
seed-plants rise around old trees. 

The use of the red wood willow, as timbers of 
vessels, has been of long standing in this part of 
Scotland, and has proved its long endurance, and 
excellent adaptation. By reason of its lightness, 
pliancy, elasticity, and toughness, it is, we think, the 
best, without exception, for the formation of small 
fast-sailing war-vessels. We are pretty certain that 
our Navy Eoard would not have cause to regret trial 
of it in a long, low, shai'p schooner, of sufficient 
breadth to stand up under great press of sail, mould- 
ed as much as possible to combine great stabihty 
mth small resistance from the water, and when in 
quick motion to be buoyant — especially not to dip 
forward, — provided it coidd be procm*ed not too old, 
and free from rot, large knots, and cross-grain ; a very 



RED-WOOD WILLOW. 



61 



little attention in the cultivation would afford it of the 
finest hends, and clean and fresh. Our Navy Board 
have received some slight teaching from our trans- 
atlantic brethren, of the superior sailing of fir- con- 
structed vessels, to those of oak, the result of their 
superior lightness, pliancy, and elasticity. 

The vmter of this has also had experience of two 
vessels, one of oak, and the other of larch, on the 
same voyages, at the same time, and has found the 
latter superior in sailing to the fonner, in a degree 
greater than the difference of build could account 
for. From the superior elasticity and lightness of 
the willow, even to larch, the lightest and most elas- 
tic of the fir-tribe, we should expect that vessels of 
it would outstrip those of fir, at least of Scots or red 
pine, as much as the latter do those of oak; and 
that, from this greater elasticity and lightness, they 
would move through the water, yielding to the re- 
sistance and percussions of the waves, compared to 
those of oak, as a thing of life to a dead block. For 
vessel-timbers, this wood requires to be used alone ; 
as, when mixed with other kinds less pliant or elas- 
tic, the latter have to withstand nearly all the im- 
petus or strain, and are thence liable to be broken, 
or from the vessel yielding more at one place than 
another, she is apt to strain and become leaky. 



62 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



Some years ago, when demolishing an old build- 
ing which had stood fully a century, the mter 
found the large frames of the building, or ground 
coupleSf which, from their situation, could not have 
been renewed, to consist of this timber ; and, with 
the exception of the outside, which was so much 
decayed, for about half an inch in depth, as the 
finger could pick it away, the body of the w^ood was 
as fi'esh as at first, still fit for any pm'pose, and of a 
beautiful pink or salmon colom*. "When w^e observed 
the mouldering exterior of these pieces, we laid one 
of the smallest hollow over a log, and struck it vAth 
a large wooden mallet, not doubting that it w^ould 
go to fragments ; such, however, was the i^esilience, 
that the mallet rebounded so greatly as almost to 
leap from om- hands. 

For country pm-poses, red-wood willow is em- 
ployed in the construction of mill w^ater-wheels, of 
the body or boarding of carts, especially of lining of 
carts employed in the carriage of stones, or of any 
utensil requuing strong, tough, light, dm'able board- 
ing. Fomierly, before the introduction of u'on-hoops 
for cart-wheels, the external rim or felloe was made 
of willow ; when new, the cart or wain was driven 
along a road covered with hard small gravel (in pre- 
ference, gravel somewhat angular), by which means 



RED-WOOD PINE. 



63 



the felloe shod itself with stone, and thus became 
capable of enduring the friction of the road for a 
long time, the toughness and elasticity of the willow 
retaining the gravel till the stone was worn aw^ay. 
Under much exposm*e to blow^s and friction, this 
willow outlasts every other home timber. When 
recently cut, the matured wood is slightly reddish, 
and the sap-wood white. When exposed to the air 
and gradually dried, both are of salmon colom% and 
scarcely distinguishable from each other. Willow- 
bark is used in tanning ; it also contains a bitter, 
said to be febrifuge. 

RED-WOOD PINE PiuUS. 

This tribe of the order Coniferae, at once the 
most useful, and the most plentifidly and widely ex- 
tended over the North temperate zone — that por- 
tion of the earth more congenial to man, and which 
contains about four-fifths of his numbers, has a simi- 
litude of character and qualities more distinguish- 
able by one glance of the eye than by laboured de- 
scription. It consists of a number of kinds, which 
again divide into families and individuals percepti- 
bly different from each other. The following are 
those whos e timber is best known to us : 



64 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



Scots fir, or Norway pine. 
Pinaster, 



Pinus sylvestris. 
Pinus Pinaster. 



Canadian red Pine * (foreign), * * * * 
Pitch pine (foreign), * » * ^ 

And, though a little more distinct, 
Yellow American, or Weymouth Pine, Pinus Strohiis. 

Very little observation will distinguish these from 
the next useful great tribe of the Coniferae with 
white wood, the Spruces and Silver Firs — Abies. 

There are a number of foreign kinds of pine, some 
of great promise, recently introduced into Britain, 
but of whose adaptation for ship-building we cannot 
speak. Samples of the timber of P. laricio, P. 
tceda, P. ce?7ibra, P maritima, P. rigida, &c. of 
British growth, may, however, soon be had of suffi- 
cient size for experiment. The common Scots fir 
is the only pine of British growth which has been 
employed as a naval timber; for which pm*pose, 
however, since the last peace, and the introduction 
of our larch, it is in very little demand. 

An acute botanist, Mr G. Don of Forfar, a num- 
ber of years ago, gave a description of the varieties 
of cultivated Scots fir which had come under his notice. 
The following is an abstract of his observations : 

* Red Canadian pine is generally termed Pinus resinosa ; but 
as it is not so resinous as several other kinds, we consider Pinus 
rubra {rubra from the colour of stem and also of timber), which 
is sometimes used, more suitable. The pitch pine of the Ame- 
rican United States should be Pinus resinosa. 



RED- WOOD PINE. 



65 



" Varieties of Pinus sylvestris. 
Var. 1st. The common variety, well known by 
its branches forming a pyramidal head, the leaves 
marginated, of dark-green colour, but little glaucous 
underneath, the cones being considerably elongated 
and tapering to the point, and the bark of the trunk 
very rugged. This variety seems short-lived, becom- 
ing soon stunted in appearance. 

" Var. 2d, Distinguishable from the former by 
disposition of branches, which are remarkable for ho- 
rizontal disposition and tendency to bend down- 
wards close to the trunk. The leaves are broader 
than var. 1st, and serrulated, not marginated ; 
leaves are distinguishable at a distance by their 
much lighter and beautiful glaucous colom*, the bark 
not so rugged as var. 1st, and the cones thicker and 
not so much pointed, and also smoother. This tree 
seems a hardy plant, growing freely in many soils : 
this variety may be named Pinus horizontalis. Var. 
1st. much more general than var. 2ld, and also sooner 
comes to seed, which is also easier gathered from the 
position of the branches. 

" Var. 3d, Is of a still lighter colour than var. 2d, 
being of a light glaucous hue, approaching to a sil- 
very tint ; its branches form, like var. 1st, a pyrami- 
dal headj but it differs remarkably in its cones from 

E 



66 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



both the former varieties ; the cones of this seem be- 
set with bkmt prickles bent backwards, the leaves 
serrulated. This variety is rather more common 
than var. 2d ; like it, it is a good tree. 

" Var. 4th, The leaves somewhat cm-led or rather 
twisted, and much shorter than the others : this va- 
riety is very rare.'* 

Our observation does not go to confirm these sub- 
divisions. We think they are little more distinct 
than the fair, the red the black hau-ed, the fair, 
the sallow, the brown complexioned, the tall, the 
short, of the same community or even family of men. 
There is variation and individuality more or less 
strongly marked in all kinds of organized beings : 
at least those vegetables which have exposed fructi- 
fication possess it ; many whose fructification is se- 
cluded also possess it ; and the others of more con- 
stant character, such as some of the Gramineas, with 
a little art (removing their anthers before the 
pollen bursts forth, and applying the pollen of 
others as near to them in the chain of life as can 
be found to be different, or changing the circum- 
stances by cultm-e), can also be rendered equally vaiia- 

* We think that in mankind the variations of the children of 
the same parents do not soften entirely — there would seem to be 
certain types or nuclei both of appearance and temperament 
around which extenial and internal character vibrates. 



RED-WOOD PINE. 



67 



ble. These minor distinctions oi* individualities of 
vegetables become more perceptible as our observa- 
tion closes in upon the object. We have never yet 
found one individual apple plant, raised from seed, 
to be the counterpart of another ; but differing even 
in every part and habit, in bud, leaf, flower, fruit, 
seed, bark, wood, root ; in luxuriance of growth ; in 
hardihood ; in being suited for different soils and cli- 
mates, some thriving in the very moist, others only 
in the dry ; in the disposition of the branches, erect, 
pendulous, horizontal ; in earliness and comparative 
earliness of leaf, of flower, of fruit. 

We hope the above remarks will not be lost on 
those who have the management of the sowing, 
planting, and thinning of woods, and that they will 
always have selection in view. Although numerous 
varieties are derived from the seed of one tree, yet 
if that tree be of a good breed, the chances are 
greatly in favour of this progeny being also good. 
Scots fir of good variety will thrive and reach consi- 
derable size and age, in almost any soil which is not 
very moist, or very arid and barren (such as our sand 
and gravel flats much impregnated with iron or 
other deleterious mineral), provided the plants from 
their earliest years have room to throw out and re- 
tain a sufficiency of side branches. This is especial- 
ly necessary to their health where the soil is unge- 

E 2! 



68 



BmXISH FOREST TREES. 



iiial, the resulting vigour often overcoming the dis- 
advantages. From the pine being found chiefly in 
the light sandy districts on the continent of Europe, 
and in the sandy pine barrens of America, an idea 
has gone abroad that these barren districts are more 
congenial to it than the more clayey, the more rocky, 
or the richer vegetable mould ; but its natural location 
in the barren sandy districts results from its being- 
more powerful in this soil than any other plant of the 
country, not from preference of this soil. Should 
any one doubt of this, let him take a summer excur- 
sion to Mar Forest, where no other tree having been 
in competition with Pinus sylvestris, and where it is 
spread over the hill and the dale, he will observe 
that it prospers best in good timber soil, and though 
comparatively preferring an easy soil, and having su- 
perior adaptation to thin or rocky ground, that its 
taste does not differ very materially from that of the 
plane or the elm, the oak or the ash. 

In Mar Forest he will also observe (if they be not 
now all cut down) several well marked individuals 
of the splatch pine, esteemed a very valuable and 
hardy kind ; and with the right which a botanist has 
in a plant sown by nature, he may bear off some of 
the seeds, and enfleavour to spread this rare indige- 
nous kind throughout the island. Should he be 
unsuccessful in finding these at Mar, he may return 



RED-WOOD PINE. 



69 



by Kenmore, where, on the side of the hill on the 
right bank of the Tay, near the confluence of the 
Lyon, he will find several trees, w^e think five, of 
this kind of pine, of considerable size, grow ing at one 
place, apparently planted : we w^ere told the plants 
had been brought down from the natural forest far- 
ther up on the mountains. These are sufficiently 
distinct in character from the common Scots fir 
growing around, having a horizontal, straggling dis- 
position of branches, the leaves being of a much 
lighter, different shade of green, and more tufted, 
and the bark of a yellower red, so as to merit a dis- 
tinct name ; and w^e should consider Pinus horizonta- 
lis as descriptive as any other, if it shall not appear to 
be only a sub-species of P. sylvestris. The descrip- 
tive name splatch fir, is from the prominences of the 
rugged bark not being in longitudinal ridges or 
flutes, but in detached flat oblong lumps, such as 
soft clay or mud takes when cast with force upon a 
wall. We, however, do not think this the same as 
Mr Don's \ar. 2d, at least vre have noticed in om* 
lowland woods raised by planting, such as Mr Don 
examined, individuals here and there having less or 
more resemblance to his described varieties, but none 
of them approaching the distinctness of this alpine 
Scots fir. The proprietors of this kind of pine will 
confer a benefit on the public by causing the timber 



70 BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



be examined and compared with that of trees of 
equal size of the common Scots fir growing near, 
and making a pubHc report of the number and size 
of annual growths, the number of these of matured 
and of sap wood, the comparative strength, densityj 
quantity of resinous deposit, hardness, &c. 

I^he Pinaster is a valuable kind of red- wood 
pine, with strong resinous timber, and from not hav- 
ing one-half the number of sap-wood layers of the 
common Scots fir, we should consider it deserving 
attention as a naval timber ; but perhaps the small 
number of sap-layers is from want of climate : owing 
to the branches being larger, and, in proportion to 
their size, being joined to the stem with a larger 
swell than those of P. sylvestris, the timber is 
rougher with larger knots. In the very barren sand 
and gravel district near Christchurch, scarcely af- 
fording sustenance to lichens, and where even heaths 
will not grow, we have observed this tree make con- 
siderable progress, and outstrip the Scots fir in 
growth. 

The Canadian Red Pine has been employed to a 
considerable extent in this country, both as plank- 
ing and spars. It is inferior in strength and dura- 
bility to the Baltic red pine, and would seldom 
make its appearance on this side the Atlantic while 
the Baltic was open to us, did not a very ill advised 



RED-WOOD PINE. 



71 



duty obstruct the supply of the better article. This 
timber is sometimes supplied with a good character 
by the shipwright, as it is soft, pliant, and easily 
worked. The Canadian red pine has a greater 
number of layers of sap-wood than any other red 
pine we are acquainted with ; we have repeatedly 
counted 100 sap-wood layers. We have never seen 
this kind of pine growing in Britain. 

The most common American pine, with yellow 
timber, Pinus strobus, has been introduced for a 
long time back into Britain, it is said first by the 
Earl of Weymouth, thence sometimes named Wey- 
mouth Pine. This rather elegant tree requires a 
w^arm sheltered situation, as it is easily torn down 
by wind, from the weakness of the timber, which is 
inferior in hardness and strength to any other pine we 
are acquainted with ; and from its slender needle 
leaf not having substance to withstand the evapora- 
tion of much exposure. Altogether, the kind ap- 
pears rather out of climate in Britain, and, though the 
monarch of the pines in Canada, holds here but a very 
subordinate place. Although extremely tender and 
light, the matured timber does not soon decay when 
cut out thin and exposed to wind and weather, nor 
worm when kept dry in houses ; but when employed 
in shipbuilding,— remaining always between the moist 



72 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



and dry, the condition most favourable to putrefac- 
tion, and surrounded by a close, warm, putrid atmo- 
spliere, — it very soon, especially in masses, becomes 
corrupted. It requires more time to season or dry 
in the deal than any other wood, owing to the fine- 
ness of fibre, smallness of pores, and want of density. 
From this quality of parting with its moisture with 
extreme slowness, it forms convenient deck-planking 
for vessels on tropical stations, or when employed in 
carriage of unslacked lime, as the plank does not 
readily shrink and become leaky under the great eva- 
poration occasioned by the heat and arid air. Yellow 
pine has generally about 40 growths of sap- wood. 

We have had no acquaintance with American 
pitch pine as a growing tree. As a timber, it is su- 
perior in several respects to all the others, having 
a great deal more resinous matter, so much, as 
often to render it semitranslucent. It is strong and 
weighty, and is used as a naval timber for most of 
the purposes to which other pine timber is appHed. 
It forms the very best bottom planking. The ship- 
wrights of the docks at Devonport ^vill attest its 
quahty, as the bottom planking of the Gibraltar of 
80 guns : this vessel carried home to England from 
the Mediterranean, a piece of coral rock of about ten 
tons weight sticking in her bottom, her preservation 



KED-WOOD PiNE. 



73 



in all probability resulting from the adhesive quality 
of this timber. Its great weight is, however, a con- 
siderable inconveniency attending its use as spars, 
and the abundance of resin, we shoidd think, would 
imfit it for tree -nails ; resinous tree-nails, — probably 
from some derangement of the structure or disposi- 
tion to chemical change produced in the resin by the 
very great pressure of the hard driving, — soon cor- 
rupting and infecting the adjacent wood. In some 
cases we have also known very resinous Baltic plank 
decay soon in vessels. The pitch pine, from the quan- 
tity of resin, contracts little in drying, at least for a 
long time, till the resin itself begins to dry up. It 
forms the best house-floors we have seen, being strong 
and dm-able, continuing close at joinings, and the 
fibre not readily taking in moistm*e when washed. 

Our red- wood pine, when come to some age, is in 
wet ground attacked by rot, which commences in 
the bulb and adjacent roots and stem, in a manner 
very similar to the rot in larch. The red-wood also 
approaches nearer to the outside where this rot ex- 
ists, and on the side of the tree where the rot is 
greatest. Most of our planted red pine forest, espe- 
cially in poor wet tills, and in all flat sandy moorish 
ground of close subsoil, fall by decay at from 30 to 
60 years old. This decay is gradual, owing to the 



74 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



difference in strength of constitution of the indivi- 
duals. Closeness of rearing and consequent tall 
nakedness of stem, and disproportion of leaves to 
stem, would alone induce this in a few years longer 
even in good soil, excepting perhaps in protected 
narrow dells ; but the decay commences much sooner 
when the soil is unfavom-able, and is no doubt accele- 
rated by the mode of extracting the seeds by kiln- 
drying the cones, and by using a weak variety of the 
plant. The approach of this decay may often be no- 
ticed, several years previous, in the saw-cross section 
of the stem mid -way up the tree — an irregular por- 
tion of the section appearing of a different shade, 
from breaking off free and irregular before the teeth 
of the saw, and not having so much fibrous cover as 
the healthy part. When Scots fir rises natm-ally, 
it is not nearly so subject to this decay even in very 
inferior soils : the plants having generally much more 
room from the first, do not rise so tall, have more 
branch in proportion to stem, thence are more vi- 
gorous. The cones not being injured by kiln-dry^ 
ing, may also account for this. 

The fact that the red pine in Scotland has fewer 
sap-wood layers than the red pine of Memel or of 
North America, and also the fact that, in most si- 
tuations in Scotland, the red pine soon decays — soon- 



RED-WOOD PINE. 



75 



est in the places where the trees have fewest sap- 
wood layers, and where the timber has been planted, 
that is, where the cones have been kiln-dried — is wor- 
thy of notice. Scots red pine has generally from 
15 to 40 layers, Memel from 40 to 50, Canadian of- 
ten 100. We consider the long moist open winter 
and cold ungenial spring in Scotland, and the till 
bottoms soaking with water, perhaps aided by the 
transplanting, and the kiln-drying of the cones, to be 
the cause of this early loss of vitality or change of 
sap-wood into matured. In Poland and Prussia, the 
earth does not remain so long cold and moist as in 
Scotland, but is either frozen or sufficiently warm 
and dry ; — this occurs even to a greater degree in 
Canada *, and neither the Memel nor Canadian have 
any chance of being planted or kiln-dried. 

White Larch — Lar'ix communis, {L. pyramidalis). 

White Larch is a timber tree combining so many 
advantages, its properties so imperfectly known, of 

* The Canadian red pine resembles P. sylvestris or Norway 
pine so much, that it is usually styled Norway pine by the settlers : 
Though different, it is so nearly allied to P. sylvestris, that we 
consider the number of sap-growths may be referred to the climate 
and soil, and not to the kind, — that is, that, were it grown in Bri- 
tain, if it did not at first, it would in the course of time come to 
have fewer sap -growths. 

4 



76 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



SO recent introduction, and of such general culture, 
(about 10,000,000 plants being sold annually from 
theniuseries of the valley of the Tay alone), that any 
accurate notice of its history, its habitudes, and uses, 
must possess an interest sufficient to arrest the at- 
tention of every one, from the statesman and econo- 
mist down to the mere lord and the squire. We shall 
therefore devote to it a little more of our attention 
than we have bestowed on those already treated of 

Larch is scattered over a considerable part of the 
northern hemisphere, inhabiting nearly the same re- 
gions with the other Coniferae. White larch, the 
kind common in Britain, is found growing exten- 
sively on the alpine districts of the south of Europe, 
in Italy, Switzerland, Sardinia ; this may be termed 
the European temperate species. Another, native 
to the country around Archangel, and extending from 

* Our common larch_, like almost every other kind of tree, 
consists of numberless varieties^ which differ considerably in quick- 
ness of growth, ultimate size^ and value of timber. This subject 
has been much neglected. We are, however, on the eve of 
great improvements in arboriculture ; the qualities and habits of 
varieties are just beginning to be studied. It is also found that 
the unifoi-mity in each kind of wild growing plants called species, 
may be broken down by art or culture, and that when once a 
breach is made, there is almost no limit to disorder ; the mele that 
ensues being nearly incapable of reduction. 

1 



LAECH. 



77 



Norway eastward through Russia and Siberia, of in- 
ferior size, may be styled the Eiu^opean Hyperbo- 
rean. Korth America, like the old world, is said to 
possess a temperate and h}^oerborean species. The 
first, Black Larch (L. pendula), more generally ex- 
tending along the longitudinal parallel of the United 
States; the other. Red Larch (L. microcarpa), along 
that of Low er Canada and Labrador. We have seen 
the American temperate attain 18 inches in diame- 
ter in Scotland, but it is much inferior in figm*e and 
growth, and also cleanness of timber, to the Appe- 
nine or Em'opean temperate, being covered with knots 
and protuberances. Though rough, the timber is 
said to be of excellent quality. 

It is now upwards of 80 years since the larch, so 
common in Britain, was brought from the Appenines 
to Strath-Tay. The rapidity of its growth and strik- 
ing novelty of appearance, assisted by the influence 
of the family of Athole (to a female of which some 
say we owe its first introduction), soon attracted ge- 
neral attention : it quickly spread over the neigh- 
bouring country, and was planted in every variety of 
soil and situation, from the unfitness of which, in 
most places of the low country, it is already fast de- 
caying. About 40 years ago it began to be planted 
in many parts of Britain. It is now introduced into 
almost every new^ plantation in the two islands, and 



78 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



the space of country covered by its shade is extend- 
ing with a rapidity unparalleled in the history of any 
other ligneous plant. 

Larch is generally conceived to be an alpine * plant, 
and its decay in the low country attributed to situa- 
tion or climate. This idea seems to have arisen from 
its locality in Italy, and from observing it succeed so 
well in our alpine districts, not taking into account 
that the soil is different, — that it may be the soil of 
these districts which conduces to the prosperity of 
the larch, and not the 4atitu^. Throughout Scot- 
land, wherever we have observed the decay, it appear- 
ed to have resulted almost solely from un suitableness 
of soil. We have witnessed it as much diseased on 
our highest trap hills, 1000 feet in altitude, as on a 
similar soil at the base. Yet the freeness from pu- 
trescency or miasma of the pure air of the mountain, 

* There is yet no sufficient data for the term alpine plant, but 
with reference to latitude. The influence on vegetables, arising 
from rarefaction and diminution of pressure of atmosphere, from 
difference of stimulus of solar ray — when the entire ray of light, 
heat, and chemical power, though less intense, is radiated fresh, 
and not much broken or modified by refraction and reflection, and 
heat communicated more in proportion by radiation than by contact 
of heated air ; or from difference of electric or galvanic or other 
meteoric impression connected with altitude or ranges of moun- 
tains, or with primary rocks or more upright strata, has not been 
made the subject of research, at least has not been sufficiently in- 
vestigated by any naturalist. 



LAllCH. 



79 



and deficiency of putrescent matter in the ground, 
or other more obscure agencies connected with pri- 
mitive ranges, may have some influence to counter- 
balance unsuitableness of soil. It is not probable 
that the coolness and moisture of altitude would be 
necessary in Scotland to the healthy growth of a ve- 
getable which flourishes under Italian suns, on the 
general level of the Appenine and on the Sardinian 
hiUs. 

The rot, so general in growing larch, though some- 
times originating in the bulb or lower part of the 
stem, seems to have its commencement most frequent- 
ly in the roots. Thence the corruption proceeds 
upwards along the connecting tubes or fibres into 
the bulb, and gradually mounts the stem, which, 
when much diseased, swells considerably for a few 
feet above the ground, evidently from the new 
layers of sap-wood forming thicker to afford neces- 
sary space for the fluids to pass upward and down- 
ward — the matmed w^ood through which there is no 
circulation approaching at this place within one or 
two annual layers of the outside. In a majority of 
cases, the rot commences in the roots which have 
struck down deepest into the earth, especially those 
under the stool ; these having been thrown to a con- 
siderable depth by the young plant, as the tree en- 
larges, are shut out from aeration, &c. by the supe- 



80 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



rior increasing stool and hard-pressed earth under- 
neath it ; this earth at the same time becoming ex- 
hausted of the particular pabulum of the plant. It 
is, therefore, quite probable, from these parts of the 
roots being the weakest, that they will be most sus- 
ceptible of injmy from being soaked in stagnant wa- 
ter in the flat tills ^, starved during droughts in light 
sand, tainted by the putrid vapom's of rich vegetable 
mould, or poisoned by the corrosive action of perni- 
cious minerals. It may also be supposed that these 
smothered sickly roots, not possessing sufficient power 
or means of suction (endosmose), will be left out in 
the general economy of vegetation of the plant, thence 
lose vitality, and become corrupt. But this affords 
no explanation why the larch roots, under these cir- 
cumstances, are more liable to corruption than those 
of other trees, or how the bulb itself should become 
contaminated. 

* When water is stationary, either in the pores of the soil or by 
itself, if the temperature be not very low, a slight putrefaction ge- 
nerally commences, aided by the dead vegetable or animal matter 
contained in the soil or the water ; and it is only the more robust 
aquatic vegetables whose juices are not corrupted, from their roots 
being soaked in this tainted fluid. It would appear, too, that the 
aqueous part of the atmosphere is also susceptible of the same pu- 
trid changes, although in general the putrescency may have com- 
menced before the evaporation. This condition of the aqueous 
part of the atmosphere is a disposing cause to blight or mildew in 
vegetables, and remittent, intermittent, and putrid fevers in man. 
Mill-ponds are notorious both for mildew and agues. 



LARCH. 



81 



We have cut off the top, where the diameter of 
the section was about three inches, from sound young 
larch trees, and found a similar rot proceed do^vn- 
wards in a few months from the section, as rises from 
the diseased roots in improper soil. There is some- 
thing favourable to the quick progress of this rot in 
the motion of the sap, or vitality of the tree ; as, 
under no common circumstances, would the wood of 
a cut larch tree become tainted in so short a time. 

The rot, though most general in trees which are 
chilled in wet cold tills, or starved in dry sand, or 
sickly from any other cause, is also often found to take 
place in the most luxmiant growing plants in open 
situations, branched to the ground, and growing in 
deep soil free from stagnating water. There must, 
therefore, be some constitutional tendency to corrup- 
tion in the larch, which is excited by a combination 
of circumstances ; and we must limit our knowledge 
for the present to the fact, that certain soils, perhaps 
slightly modified by other circumstances, produce 
sound, and others unsound larch, without admitting 
any general influence from altitude, excepting in so 
far as its antiseptic influence may go. 

The fitness of soil for larch seems to depend more 
especially upon the ability the soil possesses of afford- 
ing an equable supply of moistiu-e ; that is, upon its 



82 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



mechanical division, or its powers of absorption 
or retention of moisture; and its chemical compo- 
sition would seem only efficacious as conducive to 
this. 

Soils and subsoils^* may be di\ided into two classes. 
The first, where larch will acquire a size of from 30 
to 300 soHd feet, and is generally free of rot ; the 
second, where it reaches only from 6 to 20 feet sohd, 
and in most cases becomes tainted with rot before 
30 years of age. 

Class I. soils and subsoils proper for 

LARCH. 

Sound rock, with a covering of firm loam, pa?^- 
ticularly when the roch is jagged or cloven, or 
much dirupted and mixed with the earth, — In 
such cases, a very slight covering or admix tm'e of 
earth will suffice. We would give the preference to 
primitive rock, especially micaceous schist and moun- 
tain limestone. Larch seldom succeeds well on sand- 
stone or on trap, except on steep slopes, where the 
rock is quite sound and the soil firm. 

We have had no experience of larch, excepting very young, 
growing on chalk and its affinities. We are told there are a few- 
instances where larch has reached 50 years in these calcareous 
soils, some distance south of London. This merits attention. 



LARCH. 



83 



Fully the one half of Scotland, comprehendmg 
nearly all the alpine part, consists of primary rock, 
chiefly micaceous schist and gneiss. These rocks 
are generally less decayed at the surface, better 
drained, and fuller of clefts and fissures contain- 
ing excellent earth (especially on slopes), into which 
the roots of trees penetrate and receive healthy 
nourishment, than the other primitive and transition 
rocks, granite, porphyiy, trap, or the secondary and 
tertiary formations of nearly horizontal strata, red 
and white sandstone, &c. Primary strata are gene- 
rally well adapted for larch, except where the sur- 
face has acquired a covering of peat-moss, or received 
a flat diluvial bed of close wet till or soft moorish 
sand, or occupies a too elevated or exposed situa- 
tion — the two latter exceptions only preventing the 
growth, not inducing rot. 

Gravel, not too ferruginous, and in which water 
does not stagnate in winter, even though nearly 
bare of vegetable mould, especially on steep slopes, 
and where the air is not too arid, is favourable to 
the growth of larch. It seems to prefer the coarser 
gravel, though many of the stones exceed a yard 
solid. 

The straths or valleys of our larger rivers, in their 
passage through the alpine country, are generally 

F ^ 



84 • BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



occupied, for several hundred feet of perpendicular 
altitude up the slope, hy gravel, which covers the 
primitive strata to considerable depth, especially in 
the eddies of the salient angles of the hill. Every 
description of tree grows more luxuriantly here than 
in any other situation of the country ; the causes of 
this are, 1^^, The open bottom allowing the roots to 
penetrate deep, without being injured by stagnant 
moistm-e ; 2d, The percolation of water down through 
the gravel from the superior hill ; 3d, The dryness 
of the surface not producing cold by evaporation, 
thence the ground soon heating in the spring ; M/i, 
The moist air of the hill refreshing and nourishing 
the plant during the summer heats, and compensa- 
ting for the dryness of the soil ; 5th, The reverbera- 
ting of the sun's rays, between the sides of the nar- 
row valley, thus rendering the soil comparatively 
warmer than the incumbent air, which is cooled by 
the oblique cm-rents of the higher strata of air, oc- 
casioned by the unequal surface of the ground. 
This comparatively greater warmth of the ground, 
when aided by moistm-e, either in the soil or atmo- 
sphere, is greatly conducive to the luxuriancy of 
vegetation. 

J^irm dry clays and sound b?vw7i loam. — Soils 
well adapted for wheat and red clover, not too rich, 



LARCH. 



85 



and which will bear cattle in winter, are generally 
congenial to the larch. 

Ail very rough ground, particularly ravines, 
where the soil is rt either soft sand nor too wet ; 
also the sides of the channels of rapid rivulets, 
— The roots of most trees luxviriate in living or 
flowing water; and, where it is of salubrious qua- 
lity, especially when containing a slight solution of 
lime, will throw themselves out a considerable 
distance under the stream. The reason why steep 
slopes, and hills whose strata are nearly perpendicu- 
lar to the horizon, are so much affected by larch and 
other trees, is, because the moisture in such situa- 
tions is in motion, and often continues dripping 
through the fissures throughout the whole summer. 
The desideratum of situation for larch, is where the 
roots will neither be drowned in stagnant water in 
winter, nor parched by drought in summer, and 
where the soil is free from any corrosive mineral or 
corrupting mouldiness. 

Larch, in suitable soil, sixty years planted, and 
seasonably thinned, will have produced double the 
value of what almost any other timber would have 
done ; and from its general adaptation both for sea 
and land piu'poses, it will always command a ready 
sale. 



86 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



Class II. soils and subsoils where larch 

TAKES DRY ROT. 

Situations {steep slopes excepted) with cold till 
subsoil f nearly impervious to wa/^r.— The larch 
succeeds worst when moorish dead sand alone, or 
with admixture of peat, occupies the surface of 
these retentive bottoms. Where the whole soil 
and subsoil is one uniform, retentive, firm till, it 
vdll often reach considerable size before being at- 
tacked by the rot. When this heavy till occupies 
a steep slope, the larch will sometimes succeed well, 
owing to the more equable supply of moisture, and 
the water in the soil not stagnating, but gliding 
domi the declivity. 

In general, soils whose siuface assumes the appear- 
ance of honeycomb in time of frost, owing to the 
great quantity of water imbibed by the soil, will not 
produce large sound larch. More than half the low 
country of Scotland is soil of this description. 

Soft sand soil and subsoil — Sand is still less 
adapted for growing larch than the tills, the plants 
being often destroyed by the summer's drought before 
they attain size for any usefid purpose : the rot also 
attacks earlier here than in the tills. It appears that 



LARCH. 



87 



light sand, sloping considerably on moist back-lying 
alpine situations, covered towards the south by steep 
hill, will sometimes produce sound larch ; whereas 
did the same sand occupy a dry front or lowland 
situation, the larch would not succeed in it. The 
same moist back situation that conduces to produce 
sound larch in light dry soils, may probably tend to 
promote rot in the wet. The moisture and the less 
evaporation of altitude jaft®y-«isar«J'*'«<5«^«^^^®®j 
minish the tendency to rot in dry light sand, and 
increase it in wet till. Larch will sometimes succeed 
well in sharp dry alluvial sand left by rivulets. 

Soils incumbent on brittle dry trap, or broken 
slaty sandstone. — Although soil, the debris of trap, 
be generally much better adapted for the produc- 
tion of herbaceous vegetables than that of sandstone 
or freestone, yet larch does not seem to succeed 
much better on the former than the latter. The 
deeper superior soils, generally incumbent on the re- 
cent dark red sandstone, are better suited for larch 
than the shallow inferior soils incumbent on the old 
grey and red sandstone. 

Ground having a subsoil of dry rotten rock, 
and "which sounds hollow to the foot in time of 
drought. 

Rich deaf earth, or vegetable viotdd.—lnde])end- 



88 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



eiitly of receiving ultimate contamination from the 
putrid juices or exhalations of this soil, the larch 
does not seem, even while remaining sound, to make 
so much comparative progress of growth, as some 
of the hard wood trees, as elm, ash, plane. 

Black or grey moorish soils, with admixture of 
peat-moss. 

Although the soils specified in this class will not 
afford fine large larch for naval use, yet they may he 
very profitahly employed in growing larch for farm- 
ing purposes, or for coal-mines, where a slight taint 
of rot is of minor importance. The lightness of 
larch, especially when new cut (ahout one-third less 
weight than the evergreen coniferge), gives a facility 
to the loading and carriage, which enhances its value, 
independent of its greater strength and durahility. 
Those larches in which rot has commenced, are fully 
as suitahle for paling as the sound : they have fewer 
circles of sap-wood, and more of red or matured. 
When the rot has commenced, the maturing or red- 
dening of the circles does not proceed regularly, 
reaching nearest the hark on the side where the rot 
has advanced farthest. 

A great amelioration of our climate and of our 
soil, and considerable addition to the beauty and 
salubrity of the country, might be attained by land- 



LARCH. 



89 



holders of skill aud spirit, did they carry off the 
noxious nioistiu'e, by sufficient use of open drainage, 
from their extensive wastes of mossy moors and wet 
tills, which are only productive of the black heath, 
the most dismal robe * of the earth, or rather the fune- 
ral pall with which Natm^e has shrouded her imde- 
cayed remains. This miserable portion of our coun- 
try, so dreary when spread out in vn.de continuous 
flats, and so offensive to the eye of the traveller, un- 
less his mind is attuned to gloom and desolation, lies 
a disgrace to the possessor. Were a proper system 
of superficial draining executed on these districts, 
and kept in repair, most of our coniferas, particu- 
larly spruce and Scots fir, ^nth oak, beech, bu'ch, 
alder, and, in the sounder situations, larch, woidd 
thrive and come to maturity, idtimately enhancing 
the value of the district an hundi*ed fold. This 
coidd be done by fluting the ground, opening large 
ditches every 30, 50, or 100 yards, according to the 
wetness or closeness of the subsoil — the deeper, the 
more serviceable both in efficacy and distance of 
drainage. These flutes should stretch across the 
slope vdth just sufficient declivity to allow the wa- 

* Oh ! the bonny blooming heather." — Man has spoken 
evW things of the sun, of love, and of life." 



90 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



ter to flow oflP easily. The excavated matter should 
be thrown to the lower side ; and when the whole, 
or any part, of the excavation consists of earth or 
gravel, it ought to be spread over the whole mossy 
surface, whether the field be morass or drier hill- 
peat : this would be useful in consolidating it, and 
in preventing too great exhaustion of moistiue in 
severe droughts, from which vegetation in moss-soil 
suffers so much. Even though planting were not 
intended, this fluting and top-dressing would facili- 
tate the raising of the gramineae. These ditches, 
when the ground is not too stoney, or too moist, or 
containing roots, might be scooped out, excepting a 
little help at the bottom, by means of a scoop-sledge, 
or levelhng box, worked by a man and two horses, 
the smface being always loosened by the common 
plough : one of these will remove earth as fast as 
twenty men with wheelbarrows. 



ON BENDING AND KNEEING LARCH. 



We cannot too forcibly inculcate the urgent ne- 
cessity of attending to the bending of the larch : 
for om- country's interest, we almost regret we can- 
not compel it. In all larch plantations, in proper 



LARCH. 



91 



soil, not too far advanced, and in all that may here- 
after be planted, a proportion of those intended to 
remain as standards shonld be bended. The most 
proper time for this would perhaps be May or June, 
before the top-growth commences, or has advanced 
far ; the best size is from three feet high and upwards. 
The plants should be bent the first season to an angle 
of from 40° to 60° with the horizon, and the next 
brought down to from 10° to 60°, according to the 
size of the plant, or the curve required, — the small- 
est plants to the lowest angle. 

From experience we find that the roots of larch 
form the best of all knees ; they, however, might be 
much improved by culture ^, although it does not 

* As we held this plan of forming larch knees, and of bending 
larch, of considerable importance, we some time ago presented it 
in manuscript, along with some other matter, to the Highland 
Society of Scotland. Tiring, however, of the delay of examina- 
tion, perhaps unavoidable in their official departments, and from 
some improvements occurring to us during the delay, we re- 
quested it back. We now present it under this more convenient 
form to the Society, and hope they will find the examination or 
perusal of it printed, not quite so impracticable as when in ma- 
nuscript. It will afford us pleasure to know that this useful So- 
ciety approves, and that the members who have opportunity are 
setting about following our directions. We especially recom- 
mend to them to probe the roots of their giowing larch, and to 
lay bare those fitted for knees. 



9^ 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



seem as yet to have been attempted or thought o£. 
To form the roots properly mto knees, should the 
plants be pretty large, the planter ought to select 
those plants which have four main roots springing 
out nearly at right angles, the regularity of which he 
may improve a little by pruning, and plant them out 
as standards in the thinnest dryest soil suited for 
larch, carefully spreading the roots to equal distances 
and in a horizontal position. To promote the regidar 
square diverging of these four roots, he should dig 
narrow ruts about a foot deep and three feet long 
out from the point of each root, and fill them in 
with the richest of the neighbom*ing turf along with 
a little manm-e. When the plants are small, and 
the roots only a tuft of fibres, he should dig two nar- 
row ruts about eight feet long crossing each other at 
the middle at right angles, fill these as above, and 
put in the plant at the crossing : the rich mould of 
the rotted turf and its softness from being dug, will 
cause the plant to throw out its roots in the form of a 
cross along the trenches. When the plants have 
reached five or six feet in height, the earth may be 
removed a Httle from the root, and, if more than one 
stout root leader have run out into any of the four 
trenches, or if any have entered the unstirred earth, 
they ought all to be cut excepting one, the stoutest 



LARCH. 



93 



and most regular in each trench. In a few years af- 
terwards, when the plants have acquired some 
strength, the earth should be removed gradually, 
baring the roots to from two to five feet distance 
from the stool, or as far as the main spurs have kept 
straight, cutting off any side-shoots within this dis- 
tance, should it be found that such late root-pruning 
does not induce rot. This process of baring the 
roots will scarcely injure the growth of the trees, as 
the roots draw the necessary pabulum from a consi- 
derable distance, nor, if done carefidly, will it endan- 
ger their upsetting ; and the roots, from exposure to 
the air, will swell to extraordinary size * so as to 
render them, ere long, the firmest rooted trees in the 
wood. The labom* of this not amounting to the 
value of sixpence each, will be counterbalanced thrice 

* The landlord agriculturist is sufficiently aware of the influ- 
ence of the baring the upper part of the root of turnip, while the 
plant is young, in extending the future growth of the bulb, and 
that a dry situation gives most root in proportion to stem. These 
are general laws in vegetation. There are few observers who 
have not remarked the very large size which roots have attained 
when the trees have originally been planted on dikes, and the 
dike earth removed, leaving the roots bare. Should any person 
examine the very great difference of thickness between the up- 
per and lower part, from the heart of a root near the bulb, he will 
at once discover the influence of exposure to the air and freeness 
from pressure in promoting the swelling. 



r 



94 BRITISH FOREST TREES. 

over by the ease of grubbing the roots for knees ; 
and the whole brought to the shipwright will pro- 
duce more than double the price that the straight 
tree alone would have done. 

The forester should also eooamine and probe the 
roots of his growing larch, even those of consider- 
able size, in sound ground; and when several 
strong horizontal spurs, not eocceeding four, are 
discovered nearly straight, and from two to five 
feet long, he ought to hare these roots to that dis- 
tance, that they may swell, car ef idly pruning 
away any small side-roots, and reserve these 
plants as valuable store, taking good heed that no 
cart-wheel in passing, or feet of large quadruped, 
wound the bared roots. In exposed situations the 
earth may be gradually removed from the roots. 

The rot in larch taking place in the part appro- 
priate to knees, the forester cannot be too wary in 
selecting the situations where there is no risk of its 
attack, for planting those destined for this pm'pose. It 
is also desirable, if possible, to have the knee timber 
in ground free of stones or gravel, as the grubbing in 
stoney ground is expensive, and the roots often em- 
brace stones which, by the future swelling of the 
bulb, are completely imbedded and shut up in the 
wood, particularly in those places between the spurs 



LARCH. 



95 



where the saw section has to dhide them for knees. 
Were the roots carefnlly bared at an early period, it 
would tend to prevent the gravel from becoming im- 
bedded in the bulb. Nothing can be more annoying 
to the shipwTight, when he has bestowed his money, 
ingenuity, and labour, upon an unwieldy root, and 
brought his knees into figure at the cost of the 
destruction of his tools by the enveloped gravel, to 
discover stains of incipient rot Avhich renders it 
lumber. 

This plan of baring the roots might be extended 
to oak trees for knees, baring and pruning about a 
foot out from the bulb annually. By exposure to 
the air, the timber of the root w^ould mature and be- 
come red wood of sufficient durability. When 
covered with earth, the root of the oak remains white 
or sap wood, and soon decays after being dug up, the 
matured wood of the stem scarcely extending at all 
underneath the surface of the ground. The roots of 
the pme tribe are the reverse of this, at least the 
bulb and the spurs near it, are the best matured, 
reddest, toughest, most resinous, part of the tree. It 
is probably unnecessary to observe, that it would be 
folly to remove the earth from the bulb of trees in 
situations where water would stand for any length 
of time in the excavation. 



96 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



Larch knees are possessed of such strength and 
durability, and are of such adaptation by their 
figure and toughness , that were a siifficient quan- 
tity in the market, and their qualities generally 
known, we believe that none else would be used for 
vessels of any description of timber — even for our 
war -navy of oak. In America, where it is difficult 
to procure good oak knees in their close forest, it is 
customary to use them of spruce roots even for their 
finest vessels. The knees of vessels have a number 
of strong bolts, generally of iron, passing through 
them to secure the beam-ends to the sides of the 
ship. Larch knees are the more suited for this, as 
they do not split in the driving of the bolts, and 
contain a resinous gum which prevents the oxidation 
of the iron. 

As the larch, unlike the oak, affords few or na 
crooks natm*ally, excepting knees, the artificial for- 
mation of larch crooks is of the utmost consequence 
to the interest of the holders of larch plantations 
now growing. In order to obtain a good market 
for their straight timber, it is absolutely necessary 
to have a supply of crooks ready as soon as possible 
to work the straight up. This would increase the 
demand, and thence enhance the price of the straight 
more than any one not belonging to the craft could 

1 



LARCH, 



97 



believe. In good soil many of the crooks would be 
of suflficient size in twenty years to begin the sup- 
ply, if properly thinned out. In a forest of larch 
containing many thousand loads, and which had 
been untouched by any builder, we have seen the 
greatest difficulty in prociuing crooks for one small 
brig. It is only on very steep ground, and where 
the tree has been a little upset after planting, 
that any good crooks ai'e found. From the rather 
greater diameter required of larch timbers, and also 
from the natm-e of the fibre of the wood, we should 
suppose that steam bending of larch timbers would 
scarcely be followed, even as a dernier res sort. 

Larch, from its great lateral toughness, particularly 
the root, and from its lightness, seems better adapted 
for the construction of shot-proof vessels than any 
other timber ; and opposed end-way to shot in a 
layer, arch fashion, several feet deep around a vessel, 
would sustain more battering than any other subject 
we are acquainted with, metal excepted. Were the 
part above water of a strong steam-vessel, having 
the paddles under cover, a section of a spheroid or 
half egg cut longitudinally, and covered all around 
with the root cuts of larch five or six feet deep with 
the hewn down bulb, external; well supported in- 



98 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



side, having nothing exposed outside of tliis arch, 
and only a few small holes for ventilators and eyes ; 
there is no shot in present naval use that v>-ould 
have much impression upon it. Had such a vessel 
a great impelling power, and a very strong iron cut- 
water, or short beak wedge-shaped (in manner of the 
old Grecian galleys), projecting before the vessel un- 
der water, well supported ^\ithin by beams radiating 
back in all du'ections, she might be wrought to spHt 
and sink a fleet of men-of-war lying becalmed, in a 
few hoiu-s. This could be done by running successively 
against each, midships, and on percussion immediate- 
ly backing the engine, at same time spouting forth 
missiles, hot water, or sulphmic acid from the bow 
to obstruct boarding ; but even though the external 
arch were covered with assailants like a swami of 
bees, they would be hamiless, or could be easily dis- 
placed. To prevent combustion by red hot shot, 
the larch blocks, after drying, might have their pores 
filled by pressm'e with, alkali. However, the em- 
ployment of bomb-cannon about to be introduced in 
naval warfare, thromng explosive shot, regulated 
with just sufficient force to penetrate without passing 
through the side of the opposed vessel, mil render any 
other than metallic defensive cover ineffectual ; but 



LARCH. 



99 



this cii'cumstance will, at the same time, completeiy 
revoiutionize sea affairs, laying on the shelf om* huge 
men-of-war, whose place will be occupied with nu- 
merous bomb-cannon boats, whose small size will 
render them difficult to be hit, and from vv^hich one 
single explosive shot taking effect low down in the 
large exposed side of a three decker will tear open a 
breach sufficient to sink her almost instantly. For 
the construction of these boats, larch, especially 
were a proportion bent, would he extremely suit- 
able, and thence larch will probably, ere long, be- 
come our naval stay. 

Larch has been used in the building-yards of the 
Tay for 20 years back; and there is now afloat 
several thousand tons of shipping constructed of it. 
The Athole Frigate built of it nearly 12 years ago, 
the Larch, a fine brig built by the Duke of Athole 
several years earlier, and many other vessels built 
more recently, prove that larch is as valuable for na- 
val purposes as the most sanguine had anticipated* 
The first instance we have heard of British larch be- 
ing used in this manner, was in a sloop repaired mth 
it about 22 years back. The person to whom it had 
belonged, and who had sailed it himself, stated to us 
immediately after its loss, that this sloop had been 
built of oak about 36 years before ; that at 18 years 

G 2 



100 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



old her upper timbers were so much decayed as to 
reqmre renewal, which was done with larch ; that 
18 years after this repair this sloop went to pieces 
on the remains of the pier of IMethel, Fifeshire, and 
the top timbers and second foot-hooks of larch were 
washed ashore as tough and sound as when first put 
into the vessel, not one spot of decay appearing, they 
having assumed the blue dark coloiu which some 
timber acquu'es in moist situations, when it may be 
stiled cured; bemg either no longer liable to the 
putrid change constituting dry rot, or which forms 
timber into a proper soil for the growth of dry rot ; 
or^ from this blueness caused by the union of the 
tannin with iron acting as a poison on vegetation : 
this blueness, resulting from some alteration in the 
balance of affinities, occurs chiefly in timber contain- 
ing much of the tannin principle, in which larch 
abounds. The owner of a larch brig who had em- 
ployed her for several years on tropical voyages, also 
assm'es us that the timber will wear well in any cli- 
mate, and that he would prefer larch to any other 
kind of wood, especially for small vessels; he also 
states that the deck of this brig, composed of larch 
plank, stood the tropical heat well, and that it did 
not warp or shrink as was apprehended. 

From the softness of the fibre and want of den- 



LARCH. 



101 



sityof the larch, we would not deem it suitable for 
planking vessels beyond the size of ordinary mer- 
chantmen, say 500 tons, as in the straining of very 
large vessels, when the greatest force comes upon 
the outward skin, the fabric of the wood might 
crush before it, along the edge of the plank, and 
throw (chew) the oakmn. In ordinary sized vessels, 
however, larch plank retains the oakum better than 
oak, from greater lateral elasticity. For the pur- 
pose of timbers, if root-cuts % and properly bent, we 
would think larch suitable to the largest class of 
vessels ; as, though hght, it is tough and quite free 
from knot, crack, or cross-grain, which is so common 
in oak, and which occasions dense old oak in large 
masses to give way at once, before a shock or strain, 
the hardness and unyielding natm*e of the fibre con- 
centrating the whole dirupting impetus to one point. 
Larch may also be advantageously employed in the 
ceiling or inside skin of the part of war vessels above 
water : shot bores it, comparatively, like an auger, — 
thence the structm*e will endm-e longer under fire, 
and life be much economized. 

In all places where larch has become known, it 
has completely superseded other timber for clinker- 

* As you ascend the tree the timber deteriorates greatly. 



102 



BllITlS^H FOREST TREES. 



built boats, surpassing all others in strength, light- 
ness, and durability. For this purpose, young trees 
of about 9 inches diameter, in root-cuts from 1 0 to 
20 feet in length, with a gentle bend at one end, 
such as the larch often receives from the south-west 
wind, are the most suitable. The log should be kept 
in the bark till used, and in dry weather the boards 
put upon the boat's side within two or three days 
from being sawn out, as no timber we are acquainted 
with parts sooner with its moisture than larch ; and 
the boards do not work or bend pleasantly when dry. 
When dried, the thin larch board is at once strong, 
tough, durable, and extremely light. The tough 
strength, almost equalling leather, is owing to the 
woven or netted structure of the fibre of the wood, 
entirely different from the pine, whose reedy struc- 
ture runs parallel with very slight connecting or di- 
verging fibres. It is very difficult to split larch even 
by wedges. 

For rural purposes generally, larch is incompara- 
bly the best adapted timber, especially for rail or 
fence, or out-door fabric exposed to wind and wea- 
ther. It is also getting into use for implements of 
husbandry, such as harrows, ploughs, and carts. We 
have seen a larch upright paling, the timber of 
which, with the exception of the large charred posts. 



LARCH. 



103 



had only been eight years in grawing, standing a good 
fence, sixteen years old, decked out by moss and 
lichen in all the hoary garniture of time. 

In the construction of buildings, larch is valuable 
only for the grosser parts, as beams, lintels, joists, 
couples. For the finer boarded part, it is so much 
disposed to warp, and so difficult to be worked, as 
generally to preclude use. It is, however, asserted 
that if larch be seasoned by standing two years -with 
the bark stripped from the bole before being cut 
down, that the timber becomes manageable for finer 
house work. 

Although larch timber be extremely durable 
in exposed situation, yet it yields to the depre- 
dations of insects fully as soon as any pine timber 
in close houses. We have proof of it in house- 
fiimiture about 50 years old, but it is considerably 
moth-eaten by apparently a smaller insect than com- 
mon. Larch stools also disappear in forests sooner 
than the stools of Scots fir, being eaten by a species 
of beetle ; and the sea-worm devours larch in prefe- 
rence to almost any other wood. 

We have looked over some experiments conducted 
at Woolwich, in trial of the comparative strength 
of larch and other fir timber, where the larch is 
stated inferior to Riga and Dantzic fir, Pitch pine,. 



104 



BRITISH FOREST TREES. 



and even Yellow pine. Larch, in the districts of 
Scotland where it is gro^Mi and much in use, is uni- 
versally allowed to be considerably stronger than 
other fir; and the sawyers of it have one-fourth 
more pay per stated measure. We, ourselves, have 
had considerable experience of the strength of larch 
applied to many purposes, and have found it in ge- 
Vteral much superior in strength to other fir. We 
have known a crooked to]3mast of this timber, to 
which the sailors bore a grudge, defy their utmost 
ingenuity to get carried away. We once had fom* 
double horse- carts, made (excepting the wheels) of 
peeled young larch of rather slow growth, for the 
carriage of large stones ; these, by mistake, were 
made very slight, so light, that, without the wiieels, 
a man could have carried one of them away. When 
we saw the first loading of stones nearly a ton 
-weight each, two in each cart, and the timber yield- 
ing and creaking like a willow-basket, we did not 
expect they would have supported the weight and 
jostlings of a rugged road many yards; yet they 
withstood this coarse employment for a long time. 
The timber of larch near the top of the tree is, how- 
ever, very inferior and deficient in toughness ; and it 
is not improbable that the experiments above allud- 
ed to at Woolwich had been made mth larch tim* 



LARCH. 



105 



ber deficient in strength from being a top. White 
larch has comparatively smaller and more numerous 
branches than any other of the Coniferae ; conse- 
quently the timber is freer of large knots, and has 
more equable strength, as well in small spars as 
when large and cut out into joists and beams, pro- 
vided the timber be not too far up the tree. Laixh, 
however, compared with piiies and firs, has the 
timber much stronger when young, and seve^ 
ral inches or below a foot in diameter, than when 
old and large : this may partly be owing to its defi- 
ciency in resinous deposit. 



( 106 ) 



PART III. 

MISCELLANEOUS MATTER CONNECTED 
WITH NAVAL TIMBER. 

NURSERIES. 

Much of the luxuriance and size of timber de- 
pending upon the particular variety of the species, 
upon the treatment of the seed before sowing, and 
upon the treatment of the young plant, and as this 
fundamental subject is neither much attended to nor 
generally understood, we shall take it up ab initio. 

The consequences are now being developed of our 
deplorable ignorance of, or inattention to, one of the 
most evident traits of natural history, that vegetables 
as well as animals are generally liable to an almost 
unlimited diversification, regulated by climate, soil, 
nourishment, and new commixture of already formed 
varieties. In those with which man is most intimate, 
and where his agency in throwing them from their 
natural locality and dispositions has brought out this 
power of diversification in stronger shades, it has 
been forced upon his notice, as in man himself, in 
the dog, horse, cow, sheep, poultry^ — in the apple, 



NURSERIES. 



107 



pear, plum, gooseberry, potato, pea, which sport m 
infinite varieties, differing considerably in size, colour, 
taste, firmness of texture, period of growth, almost 
in every recognisable quality. In all these kinds 
man is influencial in preventing deterioration, by 
careful selection of the largest or most valuable as 
breeders ; but in timber trees the opposite course 
has been pursued. The large growing varieties be- 
ing so long of coming to produce seed, that many 
plantations are cut down before they reach this ma^ 
turity, the small growing and weakly varieties, 
known by early and extreme seeding, have been con- 
tinually selected as reproductive stock, from the ease 
and conveniency with which their seed could be pro- 
cured ; and the husks of several kinds of these in- 
variably kiln-dried *, in order that the seeds might 
be the more easily extracted ! May we, then, won- 
der that our plantations are occupied by a sickly 
short-lived puny race, incapable of supporting exist- 
ence in situations where their own kind had former- 
ly flourished — -particularly evinced in the genus Pi- 

* If the heat and evaporation of a gardener's pocket for seve- 
ral days be sufficient to render the seeds of melons and gourds 
productive of plants of earlier maturity, that is less disposed to 
extension and more to reproductionj — what may be expected 
from kiln-drying fir-cones ? 



108 



NURSERIES. 



nus, more particularly in the species Scots fir ; so 
much inferior to those of Nature's own rearing, 
where only the stronger, more hardy, soil- suited va- 
rieties can struggle forward to maturity and repro- 
duction ? 

We say that the rm-al economist should pay as 
much regard to the breed or particular variety of his 
forest trees, as he does to that of his live stock of 
horses, cows, and sheep. That nurserymen should 
attest the variety of their timber plants, sowing 
no seeds but those gathered from the largest, most 
healthy, and luxuriant growing trees, abstaining 
from the seed of the prematurely productive, and 
also from that of the very aged and over-matm-e ; 
as they, from animal analogy, may be expected to 
give an infirm progeny, subject to premature decay. 

As, from many facts, a considerable influence is 
known to result in several vegetables from drying 
severely the seeds from whence they had sprung 
from exposure of these seeds to the sun and air, — 
from long keeping, or from injury by mould or im- 

* The full ripening of the seeds of some cultivated varieties of 
vegetables, and also the drying of the seeds severely without arti- 
ficial heat, are found to have considerable influence upon the 
germination of the seeds, and even some impression upon t\ie 
character of the resulting plant. 



NURSERIES. 



109 



pure air, which all tend to shorten the life of the 
resulting individual, to accelerate the period of its 
seeding, and to increase its reproductiveness ; the 
nurseryman shoidd pay the utmost attention to the 
seeds he makes use of, procvuing them as recent as 
possible, and preserving them in w^ell-aired lofts, or 
under sheds, and also retaining them in the husks 
till the time of sowing : the superior germinating 
power of the seed thus treated will repay this atten- 
tion. 

From facts we are also assured, that, in some hard 
wood kinds, and also in the Coniferae, the hanging of 
the growth of the young plant, the spindling up in the 
seed-bed, or injudicious deterring treatment after- 
wards, have a tendency to injure the constitution of 
the individual, inducing premature seeding, and di- 
minutive old age ; and also, that when plants, espe- 
cially of some size, of these kinds of trees have their 
roots much broken, the secondary or new roots often 
partake something of the nature of the infirm run- 
ners, which, in most kinds of trees, are thrown out 
by layers, — the resulting tree, as in the case of those 
from layers in fruit trees being dwarfish, sooner ex- 
hausting itself by reproduction, and sooner decaying. 
For distinctness, we shall recapitulate : 

3 



110 



NUllSEUIES. 



That the seed be from the largest, hardiest variety 
of tree in luxuriant growth. 

That the seed be recent, and carefully preserved 
in husk till sowing, and extracted from the husk or 
cone without artificial drying. 

That the nursery be in an open, rather exposed 
situation, — ^most eligible without shelter either of 
tree, hedge or wall, of rather light dry soil of ordi- 
nary quality, of dry climate, and, in preference, soil 
naturally good to that made so by high manuring. 

That the plants be not too close, nor remain too 
long in the seed-bed ; that they be extricated without 
much fracture of root, and be replanted in wide rows, 
with good space between the plants in the row, keep ■ 
ing the roots as superficially extended as they will 
thrive, and without doubling the main root up to the 
surface of the ground. 

That the plant receive no pruning, excepting in 
the case of more than one leader appearing, or feeder 
miproportionally extended ; and no root-section, in 
order to retard its growth, or increase the number of 
root-fibres ; and that its ultimate removal be accom- 
plished without much fracture of root or branch. 

By exposed situation of nursery, ordinary quality 
of soil, and much room in the seed-bed and rows, we 

2 



KURSERIES. 



Ill 



shall have plants with firm fibre and hardy constitu- 
tion, with thick juicy bark, thick stem at the surface of 
ground, and numerous feeders all the way down the 
stem. Roots are most easily extricated from light 
soil, and with least fracture. They are large in pro- 
portion to stem in dry soil and climate, and when 
they are situated near the surface of the ground. — 
A healthy growing plant, of firm fibre, large root, 
and sturdy short stem of one leader and numerous 
feeders, is the great desideratum : a large root is the 
more desirable, as a considerable part of it is gene- 
rally broken off in transplanting, rendering it dis- 
proportioned to the top, which, in consequence, either 
languishes, or receives deterring cropping. 

We consider, that a tree grows more luxuri- 
antly, acquires larger size, and is much longer of 
reaching senility, when it is furnished with several 
large roots, say one or two to each of the cardinal 
points, extending horizontally out with bold leaders, 
than when numerous small rootlets diverge in all 
directions from the bulb, as is the case in some kinds 
when much fracture of root takes place from frequent 
removals, or, when the nursery is of moist or mossy 
soil, the plants being removed when of considerable 
size. We have cut down old stunted hard wood 
trees having extremely numerous crowded roots, all 



11^ 



NURSERIES, 



engrafted into a matted net throughout the soil near 
the hulh, and without any strong extended leaders. 
We attributed this crowded rooting to the plants 
having been of considerable size when put in, and 
losing their natural leaders ; the situation, an ave- 
nue exposed to cattle, went to confirm the probabi- 
lity that the defect of the rooting had been owing to 
the largeness of the plants. 

When a tree is supplied by numerous, consequent- 
ly small and not wide-extending roots, as the tree 
acquires size, the wide spreading branches and leafy 
top shed off the rain and dews from the space occu- 
pied by these roots, very few of them extending be- 
yond this shade ; at the same time, this narrow space » 
becomes soon exhausted of the more particular pabu- 
lum necessary to the kind of plant, the exhaustion be- 
ing accelerated by the dryness. This dryness and ex- 
haustion of the soil very soon show their effects aloft ; 
the living bark of the tree becomes covered from its 
connexion with the air, and constricted by a thick 
hard dead crust, which, with the consequent very 
thin alburnum affording an inefficient communica- 
tion between the supply and demand, react to im- 
pair the general vigour, and particularly to impede the 
descent of the proper sap necessary to the enlarge- 
ment and further extension of the roots. The buds 



NURSERIES. 



113 



not receiving sufficient supply of root-moistm*e, in- 
stead of pressing on to new formation of wood, only 
find enough to burgeon out into flower-buds, which 
the following season drain the tree by reproduction; 
this fruit-bearing alternates with periods of exhaus- 
tion, w^hen the buds have not even supply sufficient 
to swell into the embryo of flower and seed, but ex- 
tend only into a few leaves ; and sometimes, in the 
event of a benign season, the buds may throw out a 
small extension of new shoots. The tree progresses 
very slowly in thickness of bole all this time, and 
generally soon falls a prey to disease. On the other 
hand, when the tree has its natm'ally fine large roots 
preserved, and is situated in open forest, and mixed 
with other kinds, these large roots diverging widely 
from the tree and each other, have a much larger 
less-sought space to forage in ; and the tree enjoying 
a long period of luxuriant growth before it fall much 
into seed-bearing, acquires strength of constitution 
to thrive and increase for ages under this drain. 

We are satisfied that cutting or fracture of the 
root-leaders, especially near the bulb, when they have 
acquired some size, is injurious to the extension and 
longevity of the tree, in pines and most kinds of 
hard w^ood ; and that branch-pruning, as generally 
practised, is not less pernicious, first, by the derange- 

H 



114 



NURSERIES. 



ment which the plant receives, from the regular con- 
nexion between the rootlets and their affiliated 
twigs and leaves being destroyed by the section, 
and afterwards from the distance between the ma- 
nufacturing parts, the leaves and the sources of sup- 
ply in the ground being unnaturally extended, espe- 
cially when the stem is long, slender, and much de- 
nuded. 

Although we consider severe root fracture at plant- 
ing pernicious to some hard wood and resinous trees, 
yet there are kinds to which it is advantageous. All 
plants which grow freely by cuttings, strike better 
to have the roots prvmed in near to the bulb. Many 
kinds of seedling-plants also strike sooner, and throw 
out stronger new root-leaders, when the long strag- 
gling fibres are cut in a little, similar to the branches 
above, which, when over-numerous and slender, throw 
out more vigorous shoots by being cropped at plant- 
ing. 

PLANTING. 

In regard to planting, soils divide into the dry 
and the moist ; the former require to have the plants 
put in as soon as possible after the leaves drop off — 
at any rate, not to allow February to pass without 
completing the planting; excepting evergreens, 



PLANTING. 



115 



which should not be delayed beyond the middle of 
April. In dry soils, if the expense be not limited to 
a very low rate, pit-planting should be adopted, and 
the pits are better to be dug some months previous, 
in order that the earth may be aerated, and the turf 
partly rotted. The moist soils may be divided into 
those which are much disposed to throw the plant 
from the frosts and thaws, and those which are not ; 
the former consisting of moory, soft, or spongy earth, 
upon a retentive subsoil ; the latter, of the firmer, 
more equable loams, clays, and tills. Unless the 
plants are large, they should always be slitted into 
the former soil, and the work performed as soon as the 
groundbecomes sadded in spring — as, though the late- 
ness of planting should preclude throwing of pitted 
plants the first season, they will often be thrown the 
ensuing winter. Wlien plants are very small, they 
may be put into the latter, by slitting ; but if middle- 
sized, or large, they are better pitted. It is of the 
greatest importance to these moist soils, to have very 
deep, open ^' drains executed previous to planting, 
cutting off all the springs at their sources, and, if 
possible, drying the subsoil to such a degree that 
water will not stand in the pits. Should this be 

* Covered drains are not adapted for woods, as the matted 
fibres of the roots, especially of the semi-aquatic trees, very soon 
enter them and form obstructions. 

H 2 



116 



PLANTING. 



accomplished, it is highly advantageous to dig the 
pits in time for the excavated clay to have its cohe- 
sion broken by frost : the planting should afterwards 
be perfonned exactly at the time when this frosted 
mould is sufficiently dry, and no more, to shake 
conveniently in among the fibres of the roots, and 
not to knead into mortar, by the necessary pressing 
of the feet. After this pressure, a little of the ten- 
derest of the soil should be spread loose over the 
surface, to exclude drought. Should this dr^oiess of 
subsoil not be eflPected, the pits must be dug in 
spring, at the time the clay is most friable ; that is, 
between the moist and dry ; and the plants put in 
immediately, breaking the clay as fine as possible, 
and closing it w^ell around the roots. It is better 
to delay planting even till JMay, than to perform it 
too wet. When planting is delayed late in spring, 
the plants should be kept shoughed in the coldest 
situation that can be found, at the top of a hill ex- 
posed to the north, or in some cold, damp, back-l}dng 
place. Care should also be taken not to expose them 
much while planting, as they, especially if the buds 
be bursting, very soon wither when root and stem 
are both exposed to the sun and diy air. ^Yhen 
late planted, they ought always to be dipped as far 
up as the branches in a puddle of clay and water : 



PLANTING 



117 



should they be dipped over head in the puddle, it 
will not injure them. 

What is of most importance to the success of 
planting, is to have the soil put very closely in con- 
tact with all the root-fibre, and these fibres in due 
natural separation, vdth a little tender mould on the 
surface ; — not to have water stagnating around the 
root, at any rate during the first spring ; — to have 
the planting done in time, to receive a good sadding 
by rain before the spring droughts commence ; — to 
prevent rank weeds, furze, &c. from smotheiing the 
young plants ; — and to exclude or destroy all bestial, 
as cattle, sheep, rabbits, hares, mice, &c. In keep- 
ing the latter in check, a few families of foxes are 
very efficient. 



FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON PRUNING. 

Every forester is aware, that when feeders are 
pruned oW, they should be cut away as close as 
possible to, and without tearing the bole. To per- 
form this without danger of injvuy to the tree, 
when feeders of considerable size are to be removed, 
the branch should first be sawn over at about one 
foot beyond the intended section, and a second sec- 
tion then performed at the proper place. This re- 



118 



PRUNING. 



quires a little more time, but not nearly so much as 
an inexperienced person v/ould suppose, as the sec- 
tion a foot out is made very quickly, and the pruner 
generally takes as much time to reach the branch as 
to cut it off. The neatness and advantage of this 
method will be acknowledged by those who have 
seen it practised, to compensate for the longer time 
it requires. 

We find the saw, shears, and knife, the best in- 
struments for prvming ; in some cases of difficult ap- 
proach, the long-handed pruning-iron may be resort- 
ed to. When the lopping is performed by a percus- 
sion tool, the wood and bark at the section is often 
shattered by the blow, and thence is less likely to 
cicatrize soundly ; and even when executed in the 
best manner, the surface of the section is smooth and 
hard, consequently a good conductor of heat, dries 
much, and thence shrinks and cracks near the centre 
of the cut, opening a deep crevice, into which the 
rain penetrates, and often rots deep into the stem. 
When the section is made by the saw, a slight fi- 
brous clothing is left upon the place, which in some 
measure protects the ends of the cut tubes from the 
frost and drying air, and excludes the heat ; in con- 
sequence the wood at the section does not lose its vi- 
tality so far inward, and is not so liable to shrink 



PRUNING. 



119 



and crack in the centre and receive rain. The sec- 
tion can also generally be made much neater and 
closer by the saw than by any other instrument. 
The common erroneous belief, that a section by a 
sharp-edged instrument is less injurious than by the 
saw, is merely hypothetical, from wide analogy from 
animals. The pernicious influence on the whole in- 
dividual, received and transmitted by the nerves 
from mangled section of animal fibre, is probably en- 
tirely awanting in vegetables ; the whole process of 
life and of cicatrization is also totally different. 

The forester should also be very wary in cutting 
off a considerable branch, whose section would in- 
cline upwards, as such a section, when it has received 
a circle of new bark and wood, forms a cup which 
receives and contains rain water, which quickly cor- 
rupts the bottom of the cup, and often rots the cen- 
tre of the tree down to the ground. It is better to 
crop such a branch several feet from the main stem, 
close by some small feeder, unless the branch be 
dead. In pruning, every considerable section should 
be as near as possible at right angles with the hori- 
zon, or rather inclining inward below. Of naval 
timber, the beech is by far the most likely to take 
rot by being pmned, and should never have a large 
limb cut off, as the divided fibres generally die down- 



120 



PRUNING. 



ward a number of feet below the section, and soon 
afterward decay, leaving a hole in the bole. 

As nothing retards the growth of trees more than 
full flowering and seeding, if pruning diminish this 
flowering and seeding, so that the gain from the pre- 
vention of this exhaustion more than counterbalances 
the loss of the pruned-ofF part, the pruning will of 
course accelerate the growth of the tree ; but the re- 
moval of lower branches, although in the first place 
promotive of growing buds and extension of the top, 
in a year or two longer only tends to throw the tree 
more into flowering and seeding. The rich dryness, 
or want of fluidity of the juices which occasions flower- 
buds, is also induced by hot, dry atmosphere, and 
short supply of moisture from the roots dm'ing the 
preceding summer, both of which disposing causes 
are increased by a long naked stem, When the 
proportion of the part above ground of a tree to the 
roots is diminished, growing buds result, at least to a 
certain extent ; yet it would be very difficult to prac- 
tise a proper system of pruning on this principle, 
as the consequent lengthened stem is, in the end, 
promotive of flower- buds, especially in dry seasons, 
and the loss of feeders might greatly counterbalance 
the gain from not flowering, did a succession of wet 
cold seasons follow. 



PRUNING. 



121 



The season when pruning should be performed, is 
something dependent upon the kinds, whether they 
bleed when pruned in early spring or do not. Almost 
any convenient time will suit for pruning the latter, 
but we rather prefer March, April, May, June, or 
autumn after the leaf has fallen. The former, syca- 
more, maple, birch, &c. ought either to be pruned 
in autumn, or after the buds are beginning to break 
in spring, as they bleed and suffer considerable ex- 
haustion when pruned in the latter part of winter or 
early spring. From some facts, we consider that 
pruning in winter, especially in severe weather, gives 
a check to the vigour of the tree ; others agree with 
this. 



122 



TIMBER. 



OBSERVATIONS ON TIMBER. 



The quantity of measurable wood of the various 
timber trees which a certain extent of adapted ground 
will carry, when come to full maturity, or when they 
may be most profitably felled, and the quantity that 
may be thinned out diuring the matm'ing, with the 
time requisite to bring to value, with the relative 
selling price per foot, and also whether the greatest 
quantity of timber can be groAvn of one kind or 
mixed, are questions of more importance than 
might be judged, from the attention paid to the sub- 
ject. Of our common timber trees, Scots fir, silver 
fir, and spruce, larch, pinaster, black Itahan pop- 
lar, Salix alba, commonly called Huntingdon willow, 
red-wood willow, beech, Spanish chestnut, ash, plane, 
elm, birch, oak, are here ranked nearly in the order 
of quantity of measm'e which adapted ground in this 
country will produce or support ; that is, that an 
acre of close Scots fir trees, of whatever age, will ad- 
measure more timber than an acre covered with any 
other tree of the same size ; and a close acre of oaks 
less. A little further south, in the temperate zone, 
the large-leaved deciduous trees, particidarly the 



TIMBER. 



123 



elms, acquire thicker and longer stem, in closer or- 
der, in a given time. In this country, in rich warm 
situations, this is visible in some degree, both as re- 
gards quantity of timber and quickness of growth, 
compared with pines. It would be difficult to state 
the comparative quickness of growth of the various 
timber trees, as so much depends on soil, situation, 
and treatment ; it also varies considerably at differ- 
ent stages of their growth. It is well known, that 
in proper soil, black Italian poplar, Salix alba, and 
red wood willow, exceed all others. 

As, for naval use, it is not the quickness of growth 
and bulk of the timber altogether, but of the matured 
timber alone, which is of consequence — we give a 
view of the number of growths or annual circles of 
sap-wood (the useless part), which the main stems of 
several kinds of trees presented. Most of those we 
examined had a greater number of sap-layers near 
the top than at a few feet above ground, and the vi- 
gorous branches had generally more than the stem 
immediately adjacent to them ; the branches with 
least vigour had fewest sap circles. 



124 



TIMBER. 



Of Home Growth. 



Common oak, some trees . . 


10, others 


14, 


others 18 


Spanish chestnut, . . . . 


% 


5, 


6 


Scots elm, U. montana, . . 


16, 


25, 


32 


English elm, U, campestris, . 


0, 


10, 


0 


Red-wood willow, .... 


8, 


14, 


0 




3, 


5, 


0 


Wild cherry, Pruiiiis cerasus, 


16, 


24, 


0 


Black Italian poplar, . . . 


9, 


0, 


0 




20, 


SO, 


40 




0, 


10, 


u 


White larch, free or rot, . . 


0, 




1 Q 

lo 


Of Foreign 


Growth. 








0, 


43, 


0 


Red Canadian pine, . . . 


0, 


100, 


0 


Yellow Canadian pine, . . 


38, 


44, 


0 



The process of maturing in several did not pro- 
ceed regularly, some of the rings being reddened on 
one side and remaining white on the other : this 
did not seem to be influenced by position to south 
or north. In the larch, particularly in those trees 



TIMBER. 



125 



where the rot is incipient, this maturing is very irre- 
gular, in the view of the cross section dashing out 
into angles and irregularities, and being darker red 
than in the healthy plants : in those where rot had 
made considerable progress, the red-wood was with- 
in a circle or two of the bark. This approach of 
red-wood to the outside is so regularly connected 
with rot, that we needed no other indication of the 
roots being unfit for knees, and therefore not worth 
grubbing, than merely a slight notch by two cuts of 
a hatchet. 

Those kinds of timber whose matured wood as- 
sumes a brown or reddish colour, are generally much 
less susceptible of change, either by simple putrefac- 
tion or by attack of fungi, or gnawing of insects, 
than those whose matured wood remains of a whitish 
colour. In many of the latter, there does not even 
appear to be any particular change of constitution, 
or greater capability of resisting corruption or in- 
sects, between the alburnum and mature wood, al- 
though the difference between the two is generally 
perceptible when the cross section is drying, and im- 
mediate, as in the brown or red; there being no gra- 
dual change or softening in either between the ma- 
ture and immature. Although the change in those 
which become hxowa and red does not much affect 



126 



TIMBER. 



the hardness or strength of the timber (mature and 
miniature behig nearly equal in these when dried 
before corruption injuj'es the latter), yet it material- 
ly influences its nature or quality. We have taken 
down Liabmnum trees in the round natm*al fonn 
from the roofing of an old building, from which 
nearly the whole yellow or sap-wood was eaten away 
by insects, although they had not made the least im- 
pression upon the bromi 

* Laburnum (Cytisus) is the most valuable timber this country 
produces. It is equally deep in colour, and takes as fine a po- 
lish as rose-wood, having also something slightly pellucid in the 
polished surface. From its extreme hardness, it is much better 
adapted for use than mahogany, not being indented or injured by 
blows or rough treatment. We are acquainted with no other 
timber of home produce so little liable to decay. The large-leaved 
variety in rich warm soils acquires a diameter of a foot or a foot 
and a-half, and grows rapidly till it fall into seed-bearing. Its 
usual very stunted growth is partly owdng to less valuable faster 
gi'owing trees overtopping it : Were it planted alone, and trained 
to proper curve, it might be profitably reared for the upper tim- 
bers (the part where decay commences) of small vessels : it has 
the thinnest covering of sap wood of any of our timber trees. 
The extreme beauty and richness of its clustered depending blos- 
soms is a considerable injury to its growth, as it is often broken 
and despoiled of the branches on this account. The small-leaved 
Laburnum, though producing the most beautiful timber, is of 
such puny growth as not to rank as a forest tree. There is a 
peculiarity, at least seldom occurring in other trees, attending the 
growth of the small-leaved variety : a branch frequently gives up 
feeding the connected trunk and roots, drawing supply of nou- 



1 



TIMBER. 



Whether tmiber be more lasting when cut at 
one time of the season than at another, is not yet 
determined. The matm-ed wood does not seem to 
be much affected by the season, continuing nearly 
equally moist throughout the year ; life or action 
in it, though not quite, being nearly extinct, and 
little or no circulation remaining ; yet the matured 
wood of the stool of the pine throws out a little re- 
sin when the tree is cut down in summer, — per- 
haps only a mechanical effect of heat and drying. 
Steeping in water for a considerable time is of far 
more importance to the dm*ation of timber than 
any thing depending on the time of the season 
when it is cut do\Mi ; steeping causes some acetous 

rishraent from these upward, without returning mucli or any of 
the digested matter downward. This branch above the place of 
the stagnation of the bark vessels becomes enlarged, running into 
numerous shoots^ which are generally unnaturally thick and un- 
healthy, approaching to dropsical— often, however, beautifully 
pendant down to the ground, from their weight and the smallness 
of the supporting branch. We do not know whether this is an 
awkward effort towards increase — that these branches, under the 
influence of a not entirely matured instinct or faculty, droop in 
search of earth to root, and extend by layers, in conformity to a 
habit of some tribes of trees, in which this mode of increase is 
efficient, or that it is a disease unconnected with design or final 
cause. These overgrown branches of the small-leaved laburnum 
are generally thrown out by trees, which, owing to circumstances, 
are little disposed to seeding. 



128 



TIMBER. 



change in the timber (easily recognisable by the 
sense of smelling when any section of it is made), 
which, judging from the effect the acetous change has 
to preserve other vegetable matter from putrefaction, 
is probably of considerable use in preserving the 
timber from decay, either by rot or worming. The 
time of cutting, although of considerable importance 
to the quality and durability of the sap-wood, ap- 
pears to be of little or none to the matured. 

The age at which timber may be cut down 
being uncertain, the height to which it should be 
trained up of clear stem is not very determinable, — 
say that the trees are to be allowed to stand till 
nearly full grown, — as long as the timber continues to 
retain its strength and toughness when growing in 
proper soil, that is for hard-wood trees 100 years 
and upwards, and for pines from two to three hun- 
dred. On crowns of eminences and exposed bluffs, 
particularly when the latitude or altitude is rather 
high, the soil inferior, or the climate arid, from 15 
to 30 feet of clear bole may be as much as can judi- 
ciously be attempted ; upon plains under common 
circumstances, from 30 to 50 feet is an attainable 
stem ; in sheltered dales and valleys, they may be 
trained clean, and without branch, from 50 to 70 
feet in altitude ; and in cases where soil, situation, 

2 



TIMBER. 



129 



and climate, are all propitious, and it is desired that 
nature's fullest, grandest, development should be dis- 
played, from 70 to 150 feet, clear of branch, may be 
gained. Lewis and Clarke describe a spruce, in a 
sheltered dell on the river Columbia, which they mea- 
sured, lying upon the ground, 312 feet long from 
root to top. We have little belonging to earth more 
sublime, or which bears home to man a deeper sense 
of his bodily insignificance, and puny transient being, 
than an ancient majestic forest, whose luxuriant fo- 
liage on high, seems of itself almost a firmament of 
verdiue, supported on lofty moss- covered columns, 
and unnumbered branched arches, — a scene equally 
sublime, whether we view it under the coloured and 
flickering lights and shadows of the summer eve 
and morning, resounding to the song of the wild 
life which harbom's there, — or under the scattered 
beams streaming downward at high noontide when 
all is still, — or in winter storms, when the wild jarring 
commotion, the frightful rending and lashing of the 
straining branches, hke the arms of primeval giants, 
contending in their might, bear accompaniment to 
the loud roar and bellow of the tempest, forming a 
drone and chaunter to which demons might dance. 



I 



( 130 ) 



eONCERNI^TG OUR MARINE:, &C. 

Can we consider the Briton sane who speaks of 
bounding this country to her home resources ? Can 
any one doubt that our name, our wealth, our 
power, are not wholly attributable to our Marine ? 
Can any one be ignorant that the superiority of our 
marine is wholly dependant on our foreign trade^ 
particularly the bulkier part of it, om foreign sup- 
ply ? Does any one dread the necessity of foreign 
supply, from the foolish fear that it may be cut off 
by war ? Keeping out of view the argument, that 
ere the British pride would suffer other domination 
on the waters, our numbers would be well thinned 
away, they know little of the influence of circum- 
stance on man, who do not perceive that, in the event 
of free trade, and of the population of Britain in- 
creasing beyond what the country, under the best 
possible culture, could support, the very necessity of 
being mistress of the seas would make her so. They 
know little of what Britain is, country and people, 
who doubt of her continued supremacy, should she 
not be ruined, indeed, by following the narrow selfish 



CONCERNING OUR MARINE, &C. 



131 



views of a party — a party alike ungrateful * for the 
past, and bhnd to, or heedless of, their own idti- 
mate good. The position of Britain, — her stretch 
of sea-coast, serrated with harboiu-s, — her minerals, 
the principle of mechanical motion, so necessary in 
the arts, — her navy, docks, canals, roads, imple- 
ments, and machinery, so superior to those of the 
whole world beside, — her fertile soil,- — her capital, — 
her protection of property, — her insular situation, — 
her steady government and consequent ingress of 
capital from the continent on any commotion, — her 
habits of industry,— her knowledge of trade, — her 
sciences, — her arts, — ^her free press, — her religion f , 

* Let us compare the wealth of the British landholder with 
that of the like grade on the Continent. It is the unrivalled skill 
and industry of our manufacturers and traders which have laid 
every shore under contribution for the immense riches which has 
poured in upon our landholders, and which, from juxtaposition, 
will continue to do so, in a certain degree^ under the fullest free^ 
dom of trade. It is now absurd to talk of duties on foreign pro- 
ducts, to counterbalance home taxation — taxation now bears 
lightly on home agricultural production, more so than in many 
parts of the Continent, and our manufacturei's, under the same or 
greater taxation, compete with and outstrip all the world in 
cheapness of production. 

f The dread of change in Catholic countries — the proscription 
of almost every new work treating of science — the complete sub- 
mission of the mind to the religious authorities, bearded men 
" becoming little children " even to the letter — the consequent 

I 2 



132 CONCEENING OUll MARINE, kc. 



— ^and the stamina and indomitable spirit of her peo- 
ple. All these, causes and effects combined, brought 
into action under a climate the most favourable for 
developing the moral and physical energies of man, 
where the extremes of temperature neither relax 
nor chill, where the human muscle and hmnan mind 
are more capable of continued strong exertion, and 
machinery less influenced by hygrometric and calo- 
rific change, than on any other spot of earth. Wlien 
all these are condensed into a nucleus of power of so 
small compass that one spirit, one interest, may per- 
vade all, but drawing support by ramifications from 
every nook of the habitable world, should an infatua- 
ted party not render unavailable these unmatched 
advantages, cowardice could not even dream of peril 
to the supremacy of British naval power. 

Let us continue to extend om' foreign intercourse 
and home ciiltivation — let the merchant legislate in 
affairs of trade — the landholder in country matters ; 
each in that in which his judgment has been formed 
by experience, acting always on the principle that 
the general prosperity of the country is the interest 

general abandonment to sensual enjoyment — the immense num- 
ber of holidays — and the shoals of meddling priests, are a 
great bar to improvement — an insurmountable one to manufac- 
turing pre-eminence. We need not say that all this is subordi- 
nate to climate. Effect, however, soon turns to cause. 



CONCERNING OUR MARINE, &C. 



133 



of every class — that, like the branch and the root, 
their prosperity is indissolubly combined. 

When we view the advantages of Britain — almost 
to a wish,— when we view her able and ready to 
supply the necessities of man in every clime, in ex- 
change for his superfluities, and to scatter science, 
morality, the arts of life, all that conduces to happi- 
ness and improvement over the nations, — when we 
view all this, being blasted by an exclusive system 
of monopoly, of very doubtful advantage to one party 
of the nation, and tyrannically oppressive upon all 
others, can we refi'ain from execration ? We would 
desire the casuist to draw a distinction between the 
criminahty of preventing the operative from ex- 
changing the produce of his labour (otherwise un- 
saleable) for cheap food when his family is famish- 
ing ; and compelling the labour of the Negro (whom 
you support with food) with the whip. Men will 
be found of a virtue sufficiently easy to advocate 
either system. We only wish that the supporters of 

* Our industrious operatives, rendered trebly more productive 
by recent machinery improvements, fabricate three times more 
commodity than our landed and other population can with their 
present habits consume. Few other nations can give else but 
food in exchange for this overplus ; our landholders have enacted 
laws to exclude food, and our operatives are being starved down 
to the requisite number for home supply. 

II 



1S4 CONCERNING OUR MARINE, &C, 



monopoly and their abettors were sent oS to some 
separate quarter of the world with all their beloved 
restrictions, duties, tariffs, passports, revenue officers, 
blockade men, with the innumerable petty interfer- 
ing vexatious regulations, and all the contrivances 
which sm-ely the devil has invented to repress indus- 
try and promote misery, where they might form an 
Elysium of their own. 

There is nothing more certain, should we by re- 
strictions continue to banish knowledge, capital, and 
industry from our shores ^, than that the Genius of 
Improvement will fix upon some other place for the 
iseat of her throne. Maritime dominion will follow 
in her train ; and on the first war, all exportation 
of the products of our manufacturers being at an 
end, unexampled misery will involve four-fifths of 
our population, and an explosion will ensue, from its 
origin and character of unparalleled fury, which will 
sweep to destruction the insane authors of the cala- 
mity — tear to shreds the whole fabric of society — 
and give to the winds all the institutions which man 
has been accustomed to revere. 

* The same polity under which Britain has acquired supre- 
macy, will not now serve to continue it. A knowledge of the 
interests of nations is abroad, and if we will not suffer our coun- 
try to be the emporium of the world, another will. 



CONCERNING OUR MARINE, &G. 



135 



It is disgraceful that our Marine is not directly 
represented in the British Parliament. Is it possible 
that every clown in England, who is owner of a few 
acres or miserable hovel, is carried to the poll,— and 
that our shipping interest, and brave seamen, to 
whom the rest of the nation is indebted " for all 
they have, and almost all they know," are passed 
over — ^have not one direct representative — ^have not 
even one du'ect vote, and that their interest is total- 
ly neglected * ? Will it be credited that our most 
sage legislators, as if on purpose to ruin our marine, 
have laid on a tax of L. 4 per load (above Is. 7d, 
per solid foot) on oak-plank, and L. 2, 15s. per load 
on rough oak- timber, imported from other nations ; 
which, as only a small part of what is (not of what 
would be) used, is so derived, at the same time that 
it raises the price of the whole t nearly 100 per cent., 
tends comparatively little to swell the revenue,— 
nearly the whole of the high monopoly price revert- 
ing to our landholders and our grateful Canadian 

* See App. E. 

t The price of any article raised at home, when any part re- 
quires to be imported, of course rises to the whole cost (prime 
cost, duty and freieht) of the foreiffn. 

t 



136 CONCERNING OUR MARINE, &C. 

colony ? As about a load (50 solid feet) of timber 
is required for the construction of a ton of trading 
shipping, this duty, together vdth the high duty on 
hemp, increases the cost of our vessels nearly L. 4 
per register ton, independent of the higher price of 
building and sailing them, from other monopolies ; 
and it is only from the very superior skill, honesty 
and industry of our seamen*, that our shipping, since 
the peace, under this very great disadvantage, has 
been at all enabled to compete vdth foreign. At 
Shields and Newcastle a new merchant- vessel of oak, 
rigged and ready for sea, uncoppered, can be pm*- 
chased for L. 10 per register ton. Were the price, 
by the removal of monopoly, reduced to L. 6 per ton, 
scarcely a foreign bottom, American excepted, would 
compete with British, in the carr^dng trade, or w^ould 
enter a British port. Can it be believed that our 
very liberal late minister (INIr Huskisson), and om* 
wery non-liberal member for Newark (Mr Sadler), 
have both made a Jull expose of the distresses of our 
shipping interest, and not once have adverted to the 
cause of this, and of the comparative decHne of our 
naval preponderance — the very high duty on the 

* The chance of loss by wreck, damage from sea-water;, and 
pilfering, being much less in British than in foreign bottoms, en- 
vies the British lo obtain a higher freight than the foreign. 



CONCERNING OUR MARINE, &C. 137 



material ? Does our Government perceive the rapid 
strides which our rival brothers in America are mak- 
ing to surpass us in marine — and will it be so besot- 
ted as continue laws to the speedy fulfilment of this ? 

May we hope that, through the energy of our 
Sailor King, Britain will lead the van in the dis- 
enfranchisement of man from the old bondage of 
monopoly and restriction — that a more sane system 
of taxation (a tax on property) will be adopted, as 
well as a necessary retrenchment— that the true in- 
terest of Britain will be understood and followed, 
and a new era begin. We are sick of the drivelling 
nonsense of our closet economists about loss by colo- 
nies and foreign connexion. Bonaparte well knew 
the value of ships, colonies and commerce, 
and dreaded the power which eventually wrought 
his fall. The existence of China depends upon her 
Agricultm*e, and the sovereign devotes a part of his 
time annually to the plough. The existence of Bri- 
tain depends upon her Marine, and the king should 
always be bred a sailor — the heir-apparent and pre- 
sumptive being always sent to sea. In the case of 
a female, if she did not take kindly to the sea- 
service, a dispensation might be allowed, on her 
marrying a sailor, and the foohsh law prohibiting 
our Boyal Family from marrying a Briton be put 
aside. 



( 138 ) 



PART IV. 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS RELATIVE TO 
TIMBER. 



After throwing together several of our own ob- 
servations^ we bethought ourselves of exaniinhig into 
the ideas and experience of recent wiitei's on the 
same subject. Having taken notes of the more pro- 
minent matter contained in their pages, we believe 
we shall do the pubHc a service by printing these 
notes^ accompanied by slight remarks. This may 
be the more useful, especially as almost every author 
has his own. particular mania, which few common 
readers have sufficient knowledge of the subject to 
discriminate jfrom the saner matter: and as, from 
the nature of hobbies — from some shrewd enough 
guesses by the ovmer that they are his own un- 
doubted property — and, perhaps, from some mis- 
givings, that what he advances on these is not per- 
fectly self-evident, he is thence the more disposed 
to expatiate upon them, and embellish. The credu- 



NOTICES OF WORKS ON TIMBER. 139 



lous and inexperienced, partly from this, and partly 
from the fascination of the very improbability, rush 
at once into the snare; bring the specidations or 
assertions to practical test ; get quickly disenchanted 
by reahties, and ever after are disposed to treat all 
written directions on material science with contempt. 
We bring forward these authors in the order of per- 
usal. We have found several remarks similar to our 
own ; this was to be expected. 



140 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



1. The Forester's Guide, hy Mr Monteath. 



This volume is the work of a man of some expe- 
rience, and of considerable observation and ingenui- 
ty, not much assisted by botanical or physiological 
science or literary attainment, which he, indeed, dis- 
claims. His principal forte, and what he seems to 
have been most engaged ^\ith, is oak-coppice — his 
besetting sin, cutting and cropping. His directions 
on rearing and cutting coppice may be sensible ; — 
those who msh to practise the sacrilege of destroy- 
ing young oak- forest, we refer to him, as we have 
always had a horror at seeing a beautiful saphng 
imtimeously cut down, like an American bullock for 
its hide. At present, and while peace continues, it 
is very easy to obtain plenty of foreign bark, and 
also oak-timber, for consumption, at a very cheap 
i-ate, for this reason — and also, because, in the event 
of wa7\ the price of these articles would be nearly 
doubled — we would request the holders of coppice, 
and, indeed, of all growing oak-timber, to pause 
in their operations of cutting, and not to sacrifice 
their property so unprofitably, to their own ulti- 
mate disadvantage, and also to the detrivient of 



monteath's 



fokester's guide. 



141 



the national resources ; but immediately to set 
about converting their coppice-hags into oak-forest, 
by careful thinning and selection. For performing 
this, we refer them to Mr Monteath in person, who 
seems to comprehend the utility, and to be pretty 
well versed in the practice, of thinning ; only we 
would desire him, in pruning, to attend to the func- 
tions of the leaves ; that the more abundant the 
covering of healthy foliage, the tree will progress 
the faster ; and that the repeated cutting down of a 
young plant, year after year, as he recommends, even 
sometimes extending it to five years in succession, 
will either destroy the plant altogether, or be ex- 
tremely injurious to its growth : although, if the 
plant be stunted, cutting it down, once, as every 
body knows, is the plan which should be adopted 
with all kinds of our common forest trees — the coni- 
ferae, beech, and birch, excepted. 

Mr Monteath advises a naturalization of young 
plants, after they are got from nurseries, in a soil 
i and climate similar to that which they are ultimate- 
ly to occupy. We see no necessity for this. All 
that is required in a young plant, is, that it be of 
good variety, of firm fibre, in a healthy growing 
state ; with a stout stem, in proportion to the height, 

li 



U2 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS, 



with numerous side branches, and with a root rather 
large in comparison to the part above ground. 

Our author's mode of preparation of turfy peat- 
moss soils for planting we think good, but conve- 
niently applicable in heathy moss ground, only with 
the assistance of the late Mr Finlayson's ingenious 
device of the self-clearing plough. At every seven 
feet of breadth, Mr Monteath excavates a deep rut, 
by means of a plough with three coulters and two 
mould-boards, — two of the coulters cutting, each, a 
side of the rut, the other dividing it in the middle, 
and the double mould-board turning out a furrow to 
each side. He passes this plough twice along in 
forming the rut, each time turning out from fom' to 
six inches in depth, so that the whole depth of the 
rut is about ten inches. These minor drains com- 
municate with larger ones dug by the spade across 
the field. The thrown up slices are then cut into 
lengths of eighteen inches, and carefully dried, by 
turning and by piling a few together, as openly as 
possible, that the wind may blow through. A small 
pile, about six in number, is then burnt upon the in- 
tended site of each tree, if necessary, aided in the 
combustion by ftu'ze or other fuel ; taking care, by 
proper regidation of the quantity of fuel, or other- 
wise, to prevent the combustion from proceeding too 

3 



monteath's forester's guide. 143 



far, and the ashes from becoming white and light, 
as in this case a considerable part of their \irtiies is 
dissipated. This ploughing, drpng, and burning, 
being performed as early in the summer as the wea- 
ther will permit, the earth under the ashes is imme- 
diately dug over, from two to four feet in breadth, 
and mixed with the ashes, and the follomng spring 
the planting is performed. In situations where Mr 
Monteath's plough could not be w^orked to advan- 
tage, these minor drains may be formed by the 
spade ; and in heathy peat soils, not requiiiug drains, 
the biuning of the heathy turfs on the site of the 
plants might be efficacious in correcting the tannin, 
and in reducing and enriching the soil within the im- 
mediate reach of the young plant, vvhich would thus 
acquire strength to subdue the more distant part, and 
gradually reduce and form the whole into soil capable 
of affording healthy nourishment. 

We also approve of the plan mentioned by Mr 
Monteath, for covering vnth timber, rocks or stony 
ground, so bare of soil as not to admit of plantings 
by means of placing seeds in the crevices, or on the 
shelves of the rock, and scraping together a little 
mould to cover them; or, when practicable, pla- 
cing the seeds in the middle of the mould. Here, 
however, we think he errs, in recommending the 



144 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



cutting do\Mi of the young resulting shoot, year af- 
ter year, that the plant may acquire long roots, ex- 
tended do^Mi the crevices, to give the future stem 
stability and sufficient foraging. We would never 
cut doAm but when the plant appeared stunted, and 
not then in succession, nearer than three or fom* 
years from the last cutting. Those \yho possess 
rocky precipices, so steep or inaccessible that the 
above method of our author could not be practised 
vAth. conveniency, may cause a quantity of the 
cheapest seeds of trees be sovm dowa over the top 
of the crags dming the winter : we would prefer the 
end of January, as the mouldering effects of the 
frost and the rains would cover nmnbers of these, so 
as they woidd come to vegetate. 

Mr Monteath advises, in rearing oak-forest or 
copse, to put in only about thirty plants per acre, 
and by layers from these to cover the interstices. 
In order to recommend this practice, he states the 
celerity vdth which these coidd be extended, layer 
beyond layer, making steps, every second season, of 
eight or nine feet, by relaying the last layer's shoots, 
and he affirms, that a forest could be sooner, and more 
economically raised by this means, than by planting 
the whole at first. This is sufficiently imaginative. 
He seems not to be aware of the fact, that life is 



MONTEATH'S FORESTER'S GUIDE. 145 

very languid, and growth slow, in any branch hori- 
zontally extended, especially when upright stems 
from the same root are suffered to remain. He also 
expects the layer-roots to become strong and ca- 
pable to forage for large trees. That they will, in 
the oak, ever become so, we think very improbable. 
Examination of the roots which proceed from oak- 
layers would place this beyond dispute ; if they are, 
as we presume, fibrous and slender, similar to those 
produced by apple-layers, no tree or bush of any 
great size will result. Large trees, generally, cannot 
be procured by layers, but only in those semiaquatic 
kinds which grow readily by slips. Whether it may 
be advantageous to fill up the vacancies of copse by 
layers, in preference to seed-plants, experience only 
can determine. The bark of trees or bushes raised 
by layers or cuttings is generally thicker than that 
of those raised from seed :-— this might balance some 
deficiency of the growth in the case of oak-coppice. 

Our author advises the cutting off the upper part 
of spruce-trees on the outside of plantations, in order 
that their lower branches may extend the more, and 
remain vigorous,^thence affording more adequate 
shelter to the within plantation. Perhaps it is quite 
unnecessary to guard any person from practising this 
piece of folly. On the outside of woods, spruce-firs 

K 



146 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS, 



will retain the branches in vigour, sufficiently low 
for all the purposes of shelter: nothing could be 
more unseemly than the decapitated trees ; and in a 
few years most of them would become rotted in the 
stem, die, and fall down. 

From observing, on the western side of Scotland, 
thriving plantations exposed to south-west winds 
and sea-spray, and also to north-east winds and sea- 
spray, in woods extending along the western side of 
the salt lochs in Argyllshire, our author predicts, 
that, imder his panacea of repeated cutting down, 
trees woidd grow luxuriantly in exposed situations 
on the north-eastern margin of our island. We do 
not desire to see Mr Monteath's sanguine hope 
tm*ned to disappointment, which a trial would cer- 
tainly effect. There is sometliing peculiarly hard 
and cutting in our vernal north-eastern breeze fresh 
from ocean, which withers up the tender spread- 
ing leaves of every plant raised from the ground, and 
placed in its immediate draught. This is occasioned 
as well by a cold moist, as by a cold dry wind, the 
new vegetable structure in the developing process, 
when the tissues of tubes and cells are only in the 
state of pidp, and all the molecular germs floating 
into figure, under the direction of vital and chemi- 
cal impulses and attractions, being very susceptible 



MONTEATH'S FORESTER'S GUIDE. 14? 

of derangement. We attribute this effect on vege- 
tables principally to the coldness and saline matter. 
The depressing effect on the spirits or vital energy 
of man, occasioned by the eastern breeze, does not 
appear to be dependent on the same cause. The 
great rivers, the Rhine, the Weser, the Elbe, inde- 
pendent of the English rivers, throw a great quan- 
tity of decaying vegetable matter into the lower 
part of the German sea, which, being there only a 
shallow muddy gulf, may thence have its waters so 
far contaminated as to throw off pernicious exhala- 
tions. Or, what is much more probable, the eastern 
breeze, sweeping along the swamps (at this time in 
high evaporation, of malaria) which extend from 
Holland upward, and along the whole southern 
shore of the Baltic, and thence eastward nobody 
knows how far, must bear these exhalations, uncor- 
rected, over the narrow sea which intervenes be- 
tween these flats and our shores. It is even likely 
that a slight diffusion of saline matter from this 
gulf, instead of correcting, may have the opposite 
effect, as a small quantity of salt tends to promote 
putrefaction. It is evident that this miasma-atmo- 
sphere, borne across the German sea, is not perni- 
cious to vegetables ; as, when the breeze is not too 
cold, or too violent, they progress rapidly in growth, 

k2 



148 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS 



and acquire a deep green colour : and, on the north- 
eastern Scotch coast, where timher suflPers most, the 
breeze has Httle of that depressive influence on man, 
although it may derange his respiratory and trans- 
piratory organs ; while down on the shores of Suf- 
folk and Essex, where the malaria of the breeze is 
greatest to man, the exposed trees receive less in- 
jury. Yet something may depend upon the elec- 
tric state of this air, or upon the greater pressure of 
the atmosphere, which, we believe, are connected. On 
the exposed east coast, when it is desired to grow 
timber, we must estimate the most enduring kind of 
tree, perhaps sycamore plane, and place it to sea- 
ward, covering it as much as possible by wall, and 
planting other kinds under its lee. We have no- 
ticed several instances where timber throve well, 
without shelter, close by the sea, on our north-east 
coast, which we attributed to a diminished draught 
of the eastern breeze, owing to the configuration of 
the adjacent higher country. 

Mr Monteath ascribes the sickliness and decay 
which, in many places, is perceptible in the timber 
of narrow belts, to the want of shelter, and recom- 
mends to form belts wider. There is some truth in 
this, and the advice is good, although he does not 
seem to be aware of the whole cause of the evil.. 



monteath's forester's guide. 149 



Trees in single rows thrive latterly much better 
than in narrow belts, because, from the planting, 
they are habituated to open situation, and acquire 
roots, branches, and stem, suited to this : whereas 
trees in narrow belts, from being in a thicket while 
young, acquire great length of stem, and roots and 
tops unproportionably small ; and, when thinned out, 
and from the narrowness of the belt, exposed nearly 
as much, as, though in single row, they become 
sickly, from delicacy of constitution unsuited to this 
exposiu*e, and from deficiency of roots to draw mois- 
ture commensurate to the increased evaporation. 
To obviate this evil, resulting from narrow belts, 
timely thinning, so as to retain numerous side- 
branches downward to the ground, of course, shoidd 
be adopted. In a drier climate, or in high and ex- 
posed situation, continued forest will have great ef- 
fect in promoting the luxuriance and health of tim- 
ber ; but in the southern part of Scotland, there are 
few situations, keeping away from high elevation 
and the eastern coast, where any of our common 
trees would prosper in forest, which would not grow 
pretty well singly, provided the plant be allowed 
from the first to accommodate its figure to the situa- 
tion. 

Mr Monteath's system of pruning severely while 



150 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



the trees are young, we think very prejudicial ; and 
his restricting pruning to trees under 15 or 210 feet 
in height, equally erroneous. About 15 years ago, 
we selected a number of young trees several years 
planted, and low and bushy, in an open situation. We 
treated one half of these in a manner similar to what 
our author inculcates, pruning away most of the 
lower branches, and also any irregular top ones : and 
the other portion, though very bushy, we left to na- 
ture's own discretion, merely correcting several which 
threw up more than one leader. The result has 
been, that those much pruned up have required con- 
stant attention to the top and repeated pruning, they 
continuing to break forth into irregular branches and 
numerous leaders, and thence have sustained consi- 
derable loss of growth ; while those let alone, after 
hanging several years in bush fashion, of then* own 
accord have thrown up fine leaders, which now form 
beautiful, upright stems, with sufficiency of regular 
lateral branches or feeders, requiring little or no at- 
tention ; while the original bush at the gromid, from 
the size and overshadowing of the superior tree, ap- 
pears now so diminutive as to be unworthy of notice. 
We do not mean to inculcate that pruning is super- 
fluous ; on the contrary, when judiciously executed, 
under regulation of the purpose for which the parti- 



monteath's forester's guide. 151 

cular kind of timber may be required, it is highly 
useful : but the cutting off and diminishing the num- 
ber of lower feeders, thence deterring the growth of 
the tree, and encouraging the superior feeders to 
push up as leaders; or to increase in size so as to ren- 
der their removal, should it be necessary, dangerous to 
the health of the tree, and the upper part of the stem 
useless from large knots (a practice which in nine 
cases out of ten is followed), cannot be sufficiently 
reprobated. In pruning, every means should be 
taken to increase the number of feeders, in order 
that none of them may become too large ; and no 
healthy regular feeder should be lopped off till the 
tree has reached the required height of stem, and a 
sufficient top above this for the purpose of growth ; 
at which time the feeders upon the stem, as far up 
as this necessary height, may be removed *. 

Mr Monteath states that Scots fir should not be 
thinned to greater distance than 20 feet apart, and 
larch 15 feet. This shews very little consideration : 
the distance apart necessary for these kinds of tim- 
ber, and of all other kinds, must be relative to the 
soil, situation and climate, and the intentions of 
the owner, whether he means to bring them soon to 

* This repetition of our directions on pruning is iatentionai — 
Carthago est delenda." 



159 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



market, or caiTy them forward to great timber. 
When fir trees are intended to be early cut down, 
or when disease in larch from unfitness of soil may 
be apprehended, as it is thence of small consequence 
though their future ability to become great timber be 
destroyed by closeness, the plants should be re- 
tained pretty near each other from the fii*st, that 
the timber may be tall, straight, and clean. On the 
other hand, when the soil is suitable and great tim- 
ber intended, early attention to thinning and great 
openness from the first is absolutely necessary, as 
they (the firs), different from other trees, can never 
repair the loss of then- lower branches by throwing 
out new ones from the naked stem ; and double the 
distance stated by Mr Monteath at least for larch, 
which, instead of less, needs more space than Scots 
fir, will be required. We beheve the decay of Scots 
fir, occurring so generally at about 40 years of age, 
although also dependent on inferior variety and 
kiln-drying of cones, arises principally from want 
of timely thinning ; that is, that the infirm variety 
of Scots fir in common use, when supported by nu- 
merous feeders, and not weakened by being drawn 
up into a tall slender stem, will often have hardihood 
to continue growing, and acquire considerable size in 
om' cold, wet, moorish tills, or even in om' moorish 



monteath's forester's guide. 153 



sandy flats. Many casualties will, however, occur 
among resinous trees especially in unsuitable soil, 
even when the plants rise from the seed naturally 
sown, and have sufficient room for lateral expansion. 
The same cause, viz. closeness or want of thinning, 
induces early maturity, old age and decay in larch, 
although it does not seem to have any influence, 
either as inducement to, or prevention of, the rot. 
We have heard men, — even men reasonable on 
other subjects — speak of allowing a pine wood to 
thin itself : as well might a farmer speak of allow- 
ing his turnip field to thin itself. When woods 
are planted of various kinds of timber, the stronger, 
larger growing kinds will sometimes acquire room 
by overwhelming the smaller : but when the forest 
is of one kind of tree, and too close, all suffer 
nearly ahke, and follow each other fast in decay, 
as their various strength of constitution gives way ; 
unless, from some negligence or defect in planting, a 
portion of the plants have come away quickly, and 
the others hung back sickly for several years, so that 

* The coniferse have a weaker or more connected vitality than 
most other trees — the whole individual participating in the injury 
of any part. Perhaps this arises from the liability of resinous 
juice to putrescency — any putrid affection in one spot of the more 
vital part of the tree spreading quickly over the whole. 



154 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



the former might master the latter : or when some 
strong growing variety overtops its congeners. In 
the natural forest of America, when a clearance by 
any means is effected, the young seedlings, generally 
all of one kind, spring up so numerous, that, choak- 
ing each other, they all die together in a few years. 
This close springing up and dying is sometimes re- 
peated several times over ; different kinds of trees 
rising in succession, till the seeds in the soil be so 
reduced as to throw up plants so far asunder as to 
afford better opportunity for the larger growing va- 
rieties to develope their strength; and, overpowering 
the less, thus acquire spread of branches commensu- 
rate to the height, and thence strength of constitu- 
tion sufficient to bear them forward to large trees. 

Mr Monteath, apparently to encourage the de- 
struction of yovmg oak, and keep his merciless hatchet 
agoing, asserts that " oak trees, at the age of 24 
or not exceeding 30 years, have as thick a rind or 
fleshy part of bark, as when they arrive at 50." If 
by this he means to say, that the useful part of the 
oak bark of the stem of a tree at 50 years old is no 
thicker than that of one of 30, we say he is wrong, 
widely wrong. A thriving oak tree of 100 years will 
still continue to increase the thickness of the valuable 
part of the bark on the stem, although part of the 



monteath's forester's guide. 155 

outer layers or cuticle may lose vitality, and become 
corky. We have taken down a luxiuriant growing 
oak, exceeding three feet in diameter, the living bark 
of whose stem was about two inches in thickness, re- 
sembling thick plank, and which was considered by 
the tanners much stronger in quality than bark of 
younger growth. Has Mr Monteath seen any bark 
resembling this on 21 4 years old sproutings ? If, by 
the above quotation, oiu* author means to say, that 
the valuable part of the bark on the branches of a 
tree 30 years old, is equal in thickness to that on the 
same sized branches of a tree at 50, we say he errs 
still ; that is, provided the older tree be in a healthy 
thriving condition, and growing equally open and 
exposed as the younger. Trees, as they increase in 
years, increase also in the thickness of the living 
bark, from the root upwards to the smallest twig, 
provided they have not begun to get dry and sickly 
from over maturity. When this period arrives, the 
living part of the bark upon the stem and larger 
branches becomes very thin, with a great proportion 
of dead corky substance ; although, on the twigs and 
smaller branches, it still continues to thicken. The 
age at which the external part of the bark begins to 
lose vitality, is considerably dependant upon luxuri- 
ance of growth, climate, and exposure ; and the pe- 



156 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



riod when this loss proceeds faster than the annual 
increase within, is altogether dependent on the vi- 
gour of the tree, not on the age, and never takes 
place till the timher is ripe for the dock-yard. 

We would warn the readers of Mr Monteath's 
volume, that his calculations and statements regard- 
ing the worth of coppice and timber generally, seem 
more suited to flatter the owner's wishes than to be 
useful to him as a merchant ; or to be adjusted to 
the value of money dming the late war — ^not to the 
present value. We also do not very well compre- 
hend his re-establishment or resuscitation of life in 
dead trees. We observe several other slight errors, 
such as the duration of his paling, — and the affirma- 
tion that the sap-wood will not extend so as to cover 
over the section of a pruned branch which contains 
any red or matured wood. Most readers will be able 
to detect such errors as these. 

In taking leave of Mr Monteath's volume, we 
would offer our acknowledgment for the attention 
he has bestowed on the subject of the seasoning 
of timber, by steaming with extract of wood (pyro- 
ligneous acid) and by scorching, as prevention of 
dry rot. The greatest objection we see to his plan 
is, that all timber dried quickly is liable to crack and 
split, and loses a considerable portion of its tough- 



monteath's forester's guide. 157 

ness and elasticity ; at least, timber when dried 
slowly is harder and stronger than wiien dried quick 
ly, the dryness in both cases being carried to the 
same extent. The comparative strength of timber 
scorched and timber not scorched, after botli are 
soaked in water, as in the low^r timbers and plank 
of vessels, should be subjected to experiment. 

Oiu" author's directions (although the practice is 
also not new^) to season larch by peeling off the bark 
one or more years previous to cutting, in order to pre- 
vent it from warping or twisting in framed house- 
work ; and his hints recommending stripping off 
the bark from most kinds of timber a season pre- 
vious to cutting, are also deserving of notice. We 
greatly wwder that something efficacious has not 
been done in regard to dry rot by our Navy Board, 
and consider the subject of such importance, that we 
think a rot-prevention officer or wood physician 
should be appointed to each war vessel from the time 
her first timber is laid dowTi, to be made in some 
shape accountable if rot to any extent should ever 
occur ; and that this officer should be regularly bred 
to his profession at an institution estabhshed for the 
study of this branch of science at the King's largest 
building yard. Perhaps it might be as well to endow 
several professors' chairs at the universities to followr 



158 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



out and lecture on tliis science, as being of far more 
importance than many which are aheady endowed. 
We think that steeping in fresh, water pits for several 
years, till a kind of acetous fermentation take place 
in the timber, or till it become of a blue colour ; or 
in tan-pits ; or for a shorter period in strong brine 
pits ; or even salting the timber like herrings, after 
it is blocked out ; or forcing pyrohgneous acid, or 
composition of chlorine, or other solution, antiseptic 
or obnoxious to Hfe, into the pores of the timber 
^^h.en dry, by pressure ; or perhaps by charring the tim- 
bers after they are cleaned do^Mi on the stocks ready 
for the plank, by playing on them a jet of flame from 
a flexible gas pipe, — might, some of them, be found 
preventive of the rot, and at same time not to impah 
any of the valuable qualities of the timber. 

We are a little shy in committing om'selves, lest 
we should be impressed as a diy-rot physician or 
professor ; but if the following plan for preservation 
of vessels when unemployed has not aheady been 
tried, we recommend it to the notice of om* Na^y 
Board. 

Let eveiy part of the vessel be cleared out, and 
every port-hole or external opening be made as au-- 
tight as possible. 

I^t a quantity of recent-biuned limestone (lime- 

3 



monteath's forester's guiee. 



159 



shells) be spread thin over every inside deck or floor, 
and over the whole bottom and sides of the vessel, 
and every door or hatch in the main-deck be imme- 
diately closed down air-tight. A number of rods 
or shreds of timber woidd require to be nailed slight- 
ly to the inside skin of the ship where the slope is 
considerable, in order that the lime-shells may rest 
and not roll down. 

As soon as it is found that the lime-shells are 
completely slaked — become hydrate of lime — let it 
be sold to the farmer or house-builder, or be used in 
any government erection going forward at the time; 
and let another quantity be laid in. We would 
consider a sloop of 80 tons load of lime, value, prime 
cost and freight, about L.70, would suffice for cover- 
ing the internal surface of a seventy-four gun ship. 
When slaked to powder, the lime might be disposed 
of at little loss. It is impossible, without trial, to 
say how often the lime would require renewal, but 
we think twice or thrice a-year would suffice to pre- 
serve the vessel dry and free of any corruption ; per- 
haps even once might be found effectual. Suppose 
that the lime was renewed every four months, and 
that when slaked it only sold at two-thirds of the 
whole cost, the preservation of a line-of-battle ship 
would be nearly as follows. The price of the lime 



160 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



and work is correct, according to the rates in most 
of the harbours of Scotland. 

A quantity of rods or shreds of timber, about three inches 
in diameter, for nailing on the sloping sides of the ves- 
sel^ material and labour, , , L.20 0 0 

Eighty tons lime-shells = 560 bolls, at Is. '7di 

per boll, prime cost, . . , 44 6 8 

Freight of 560 boils, at Is. . . , 28 0 0 

The slaked lime is supposed to sell at 2-Sds 
of the cost, thence the whole loss on a year 
would equal the value of one cargo. 

Carrying three lime cargoes of shells aboard, 

and spreading them, » . . 30 0 0 

We allow here for the greater distance of 
carriage, and spreading out of the cargo, 
nearly thrice the sum requisite to remove 
lime-shells from a vessel into a cart. 
Removing the slaked lime of three cargoes, 30 0 0 

Cost first year, . L.152 6 8 
Deduct rods, . , 20 0 0 

Cost, second, and each following year, . L.132 6 8 

The complete efficacy of lime-shells in preventing 
dry-rot is already proved — the coasting small craft 
frequently employed in the carriage of lime-shells 
not being liable to it. All that requires to be as- 
certained, is the minimum quantity which will effect 
it ; and if the expense of this quantity will greatly 
exceed the average loss by dry-rot in our unemployed 



monteath's forester's guide. 161 



shipping. If the quantity necessary be not greater 
than what we have supposed— even Mr Hume him- 
self would not consider the expense extravagant — 
the preservation of a line-of-battle ship not exceed- 
ing that of one of our numerous army captains "while 
lying in ordinary. 

Lime is preventive of dry-rot in sever-al ways, — » 
when uncombined as an antiseptic, simply by dry- 
ing, from its attraction for water ; by its causticity, 
which remains for a number of months after it is 
slaked, destroying organic life ; and by its absorb- 
ing putrescent gases. It is not easy, without trial, 
to form a correct estimate of the quantity of mois- 
ture which would enter through the inside planking 
of a man-of-war ; but were the bottom of the vessel in 
good condition, the pumps attended to, and external 
air excluded, we should consider that the moisture 
would not greatly exceed 60 tons of water yearly,^ 
which would nearly be required to convert 240 tons 
of lime-shells into dry hydrate of lime. No very 
great injury or inconvenience would be produced 
I by the opening of the seams of the ceiling (the 
inside skin), or of the inner decks or floors, or by 
the warping of the plank, resulting from the con- 
traction of the timber by the dryness; but the caulk- 
ing of the main deck would require to be looked to, 

i 



162 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



No danger from fire need be apprehended, from the 
sudden slaking of a thin layer of shells, even though 
a leak in the main deck should occur. The thick- 
ness beyond which shells could not be suddenly 
slaked upon dry boards mthout danger of fire, 
might be tried. 

It is necessary to mention, that, though lime-shells, 
or diy hydrate of lime, when timber is so diy as to 
be liable to corruption by insects or by dry rot, is, by 
destroying life and increasing the dryness, preventive 
of this corruption ; yet lime, in contact with timber 
for a considerable time in very moist air, from its 
great attraction to water, draws so much moistm*e 
from the air as to become wet mortar or pulp, which, 
moistening the timber, promotes its decay by the 
moist rot. 



NICOL'S PLANTER'S CALENDAR. 163 



II. — Nicol's Planter's Calendar. 



This volume, which ought to have been named 
Sang's Nurseryman's Calendar, is a work of very con- 
siderable merit and usefulness, where the craft of 
the common nurseryman is plainly and judiciously 
taught. The editor, IVIr Sang, admits that he was 
very little indebted to the notes of his friend (the 
late Mr Nicol) for the matter of the volume ; and 
the work itself bears evidence of this, being princi- 
pally devoted to the operations of the nursery, the 
sowing and planting of hard -wood trees, which are 
described with a judgment and accuracy attain- 
able only by long experience in that line, to which 
we understand Mr Sang belongs. Every person en- 
gaged with the sowing, planting, or rearing of tim- 
ber, if he be not too wise or too old to learn, should 
forthwith procure this volume. 

Mr Sang recommends sowing of forests in prefer- 
ence to planting, which many before him have done^ 
we believe, more from conjecture that nature's own 
process must be superior to any method of art, than 
from any experience of the fact or accurate know- 

L 2 



164 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



ledge of — at kast mthout giving sufficient explana- 
tion of, any cause rendering the tree of more puny 
growth in consequence of being transplanted. In 
the case of simple herbaceous vegetables, we find, 
on the contrary, that transplanting increases the 
size, protracts the period of full development, and 
retards the decay, the individual suffering no lasting 
injury from root fracture, or that injmy being more 
than compensated by change to a new and more re- 
cently wTought soil ; or even the root fracture, in- 
stead of being of prejudice to the growth, by tlirow- 
ing the energy of the plant in this direction to repair 
the injmy, not only may do so, but delaying the su- 
perior process towards reproduction may also give a 

* Transplanting having an opposite influence on the young of 
herbaceous and woody vegetables, in the former when not al- 
ready rising into stem, retarding, and the latter accelerating or 
furthering development of the reproductory parts, is a good les- 
son to reasoners from analogy. The root-fractured herbaceous 
plants repauing the injury almost immediately, and before the 
rudiments of the reproductory parts have time for expansion, the 
greater quantity of moist nourishment afforded by the unsought 
newly stiiTed soil, produces a flush of radical leaves, which re- 
act to further the extension of the roots. The new rootlets have 
again more connexion to promote the growth of the radical leaves, 
and to induce offsets — tillertng — from the sides of the bulb, than 
to nouiish or mature the core part, from whence the stem arises 
— a certain comparative extension and matmity of the core being 
necessary to the rising of the stem. Thence seeding can be retarded, 
and life in annuals be continued, ad libiium. On the contrary, in 



nicol's planter's calendar. 165 



new vigour to the soft fibrous rootlets, and greater ex- 
tension than they otherwise would have attained. But 
in regard to some kinds of compound plants of per- 
ennial stem, transplanting, especially when the plant 
has attained some size, by fracture, throws the main 
wide diverging roots into numerous rootlets and slen- 
der matted fibres, none of which has individual 
strength to extend as a leader far beyond the shade 
of the spreading top, thence forage in a drier, more 
exhausted soil, and, from consequent want of supply 
of moisture, the sap of the tree stagnates into flower, 
or merely leaf-buds, instead of flowing out into new 
wood. The fibrous softer rooting vegetables sustain 
no lasting injury from root-fracture and transplant- 
ing ; but the harder, more woody, larger growing 
roots, losing their leader, never entu'ely recover their 
original power of extention. Yet we think that one 
or two year old plants, taken from the seed-bed, 
would suffer little or no injury from removal, as the 
tap-root, which is ultimately of no consequence, 
never constituting a leader, but eventually disap- 

woody vegetables of perennial stem, the reparation of the root-injury 
takes place slowly, and the evaporation from the stem and ele- 
vated branches and leaves exhausting the little moisture afforded 
by the inadequate root-suction during an entire season, gives 
time and bias for the germs to pass into reproductory instead of 
productory organs even the first season. 



166 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



pearing, is the only part which suflPers fracture in 
the woody state; and the side shoots, which become 
the grand root leaders, are in the fibrous state, which 
easily repairs small injuiy. These observations re- 
fer only to certain kinds of timber trees. The willows, 
poplars, and lindens, succeed better when their roots 
are cropped in near the bulb when removed. We 
planted a piece of trenched ground, partly with pop- 
lar plants, with good roots, from a nursery, and part- 
ly with poplar loppings, about the same size as the 
plants, stuck into the ground: the loppings grew 
more luxuriantly than the nursery plants. The 
same occurs with willows— with this difference, that 
willow-loppings do better with the top entirely 
cropped, without any twigs or external buds ; the 
poplar only pruned a little, with a terminal bud left 
on every twig, especially on the top shoot. The su- 
periority of the growth of those without roots, results 
from their having fewer buds and twigs to exhaust 
the juices before the formation of new fibrils to 
draw from the ground, these few buds thence con- 
tinuing to push more strongly, and from the roots 
growing more vigorously when sprung anew, than 
when they are a continuation of the wounded de- 
ranged old ones. 

New rootlets spring out much sooner and more 



nicol's planter^s calendar. 167 

boldly from the thick vigorous green stem bark, than 
from the delicate tender root bark, and also more 
vigorously from the bark of the bulb than from the 
bark of the remote roots, of those soft-wooded trees ; 
indeed, it appears to be owing alone to the great 
strength of the vitality of the bark of the stem, that 
those kinds are so capable of continuation by cuttings. 
The roots have nearly the same delicacy of those of 
other kinds of trees, and show no particular readiness 
to throw up sprouts when bared. 

Mr Sang, in furtherance of his advocated scheme 
of raising forests in situ from the seed, sensible of 
the general impracticability of fallowing or working 
the ground all over previous to sowing, gives direc- 
tions for pitting or stirring the earth the previous 
spring and summer, in spots about fourteen inches 
square, and from six to nine feet separate, burying 
the turf under the soil, in order that it may be rot- 
ted, and a fine friable mould obtained for reception 
of the seeds to be sown the following spring; several 
seeds are then deposited in each spot, equidistant ; 
these require to be hand-weeded the first season, 
and the resulting plants hoed around for several 
» successive years, till they have mastered the weeds, 
after which they are ail plucked out but one (the 
most promising) in each spot. This is all very wells 



168 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



if we could have patience and assiduity to proceed 
thus systematically ; and if the mice, bu*ds, and other 
enemies, would " let them be but although this 
plan, when a braird is obtained, and the tufts 
cleaned, and seasonably thinned, is probably the 
best, yet landlords, in general incapable of exertion, 
but under the excitement of a fresh thought, are so 
infirm of purpose ; tenm'e of life and property are so 
precarious ; and trusted ser\^ants, especially when 
the procedm-e has originated with another, are so 
liable to be negligent, that om* amateurs ought to 
gratify then* passion for improvement while it lasts, 
and proceed at once by purchase of plants, and pit- 
ting or shtting, which procures them a forest imme- 
diately palpable to view. There is no doubt, how^- 
ever, that wooing the soil to kindliness, rearing the 
infant plant fi:om the germ, and superintending a 
jprincipio the entire beautiful process of vegetable 
development, %vill afford a deeper charm to a patient 
lover of natm'e ; and that the continued solicitude 
and attentions required during this process acting 
upon man's parental instinct, \^ili excite an interest 
hardly to be felt towards a child of adoption. 

A nm-sery gives such facility to the rearing of the 
plants, that, taking into account the greater chance 
of failiue by sowing in situ than by planting, the 



NICOL'S planter's CALENDAR. l69 



latter practice will be executed for one half the ex- 
pense of the former. Supposing that the progress, 
after twenty years' occupancy of the ground, be equal 
in both cases, — at which period, however, we think 
the transplanted would still have the advantage, — 
it would require a considerable ultimate superior 
progress in those sown, to outbalance the accimiulat- 
ing value of the extra expense. It is probable a 
combination of both practices might be advantage- 
ously followed — sowing the soils and situations most 
suitable, and transplanting the thinnings of these 
into the more exposed unpropitious places*. The 
matter, however, must, after all, be left to the test of 
experiment in a variety of soils and situations. 

This volume, being principally a monthly detail of 
a nursery practice, which has supported the test of 
competition, has, on this account, a very different cre- 
dit and value from much that has been published of 
landlords' practice, theorists' conjectm^es, or adventu- 
rers' quackery. The burthen of our author's song, 
which, from the natm*e of the work, falls to be repeat- 
ed at several of the calendary periods, and which per- 
haps cannot be too often repeated, is nearly as follows. 

Procure good seed of the best varieties from large 
healthy trees, and preserve these in husk in dry 
* We rather think Mr Sang mentions this. 



170 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



well-aired places till sowing ; with the exception of 
ash keys, haws, holly-berries, roans, and yew-berries, 
which require to be put in the rot-heap as soon as 
gathered. The rot-heap consists of seed mixed with 
sandy earth formed into a layer not exceeding ten 
inches in thickness ; this is tm^ned several times be- 
fore midwinter, when it is covered with a layer of 
earth about seven inches deep, to exclude the frost. 
After remaining in this heap one year — till Septem- 
ber, or the following February, these seeds are sown 
out. 

Sow seeds of trees during the last half of Fe- 
bruary, March, or April, on beds of high manm-ed 
easy soil, in very fine tilth, and clear of weeds, such 
as follows hoed green crop, in distance and depth 
in proportion to the size of the seed, or rather of 
the annual stem or braird. To deposit the seed at 
an equable depth, the upper friable moidd is pushed 
(cuffed) off the bed to the interstices between by the 
reversed head of a rake, as deep as necessary ; the 
seed is then deposited by the hand, and rolled over 
by a very light roller to fix it, that it may not suffer 
derangement by the return of the earth which is 
then evenly cuffed back from the sides, and no har- 
rowing or raking given. 

Watch most narrowly, and ward off or destroy all 



NICOL'S PLANTER'S CALENDAE. 171 

kinds of vermin, mice, snails, birds, till the time 
when the rising braird has disencumbered itself of 
the husk of the seed thrown up by the ascending 
stem, and nip out every weed as soon as discernible 
by the naked eye. In order to diminish the toil of 
watching, the different kinds should be sown as near 
the same time as their nature renders prudent, and 
the seed-beds be situated as near each other as cir- 
cumstances will admit. 

At the end of the first or second season, according 
to size and closeness of plants, remove the seedlings 
from the bed to nursery rows, at any time when the 
leaf is off, and the ground sufficiently dry not to 
poach ; before April for deciduous trees, and during 
April for evergreens, placing them in rather open 
order, either by dibbling or laying, according to the 
nature of the root, firming the plants well in the 
ground; in case of dibbling, taking good heed to 
leave no vacuum of hole under the root, and to work 
the tool so as to compress the earth more below than 
above. 

Keep the soil loose and friable on the surface, and 
clear of weeds between the transplanted rows by re- 
peated seasonable hoeings, and let the plants rise 
with a single leader. 

After the plants have stood one or two years in 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



the nursery-roWj remove them to their ultimate des- 
tination with as little fracture or exposure of root 
as possible, — the larger rooted by pitting, and the 
smaller by slitting, or as the nature of the soil may 
require ; paying most particular attention to plant 
the dry ground early after the leaf has dropped, 
and the moister and more adhesive soils in succes- 
sion, as they become so dry in spring as not to ad- 
here to the tools in v^orking, or poach in treading 
the plant firm in ; removing the evergreens earlier, 
or later, in April, according to the dryness or moist- 
ness of the ground; dipping the roots in a clay- 
puddle, and endeavouring to seize the opportunity 
of planting before a shower, should the spring be far 
advanced and dry, especially in the more arid situa- 
tions. 

Stout healthy seedlings, one or two years old, may 
be at once removed from the seed-bed to their place 
in the forest, and will often succeed as well as when 
nursed in rows, as above.— -We have preferred 
the pick of the seedlings to the common run of the 
transplanted, as being probably stronger growing 
varieties. 

In cases where it is practicable, work over the 
new plantations for several years with crops of pota- 
toes, turnips, lettuce, ^c., manuring the ground, if 



nicol's planter's calendar. 



173 



possible ; and then sow out with perennial rye-grass 
and white clover, if the trees are not become a close 
cover, making economical use of the grass as early 
in the season as it can be mowed with a short 
scythe. 

For seeds that require to lie a season in the rot- 
heap, such as ash keys, haws, &c. September-sowing 
is preferable to deferring it to the following spring, 
as they are liable to chip in the heap. If not sown 
in September, they must be got in as soon in Fe- 
bruary as possible. 

Acorns, Spanish and Horse Chestnuts, are best 
sown when they drop from the tree ; but when the 
seed is not procured till spring, the sowing ought 
not to be deferred beyond February and March. The 
best soil is a deep rich loam. 

Elm-seed may be sown in June, when it is new 
from the tree, or carefully dried and kept over sea- 
son till next spring ; one-half may then be sown in 
March, and the other in April, as the March-sown 
is sometimes injured by late frosts. The utmost 
care is required to prevent this seed from heating 
when newly gathered. 

Beech braird is also liable to be cut off by spring 
frost; the seed should therefore be sown partly in 
March and partly in April, to diminish the chance 



174 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS, 



of entire failure. The soil requires to be rich, and 
is benefited by a dressing of well-made manure pre- 
vious to sowing. 

Sycamore Plane braird also suffers by late frost, 
and for greater security ought also to be sown part- 
ly in March and partly in April. Planes require 
dry, poor, rather exposed sandy soil, for seed-bed ; as, 
in rich damp soil, the top of the annual shoot does 
not ripen : the seed ought to be thinly sown. 

Birch and Alder seeds require to be sown in 
March, or beginning of April, on very fine, rich, 
easy mould, giving them very slight cover, especially 
the birch. 

The Coniferse, Scots Fir, Spruce, Silver Fir, &c. 
should be sown in April, on very rich easy soil. The 
greatest care is required to deposit these different 
seeds at proper regular depth, from an inch to the 
fourth of an inch, in proportion to the size of the 
seed. 

Larch should also be sown in April ; it succeeds 
best on the clean mellow ground which has produced 
a crop of seedling Scots fir. It is worthy of remark, 
that the larch seedlings and row-plants are liable to 
die under a putrescent disease, when much recent 
manure is employed.— We remark this accordance 
with its tendency to putrid disease in after life. 

3 



nicol's planter's' calendar. 175 



Acorns, Chestnuts, and other large seeds, may be 
economically sown in drill : where the soil contains^ 
much annual weed seed, this admits of expeditious 
cleaning by the hoe. Ground which has borne a 
crop of potatoes the preceding season, is unfit for 
seed-beds, as the tubers and seed of the potato give 
much trouble. 

These are the chief of Mr Bang's directions on 
raising timber-plants. With the exception of kiln- 
drying of cones, and being rather too prodigal of 
manure to the seed-beds (perhaps necessary in a sale 
nursery), we see nothing in the volume to censure. — 
A premium should be offered for a convenient plan 
of distributing fir-seed suitably in the seed-bed, 
without the aid of artificial drying. 

It is perhaps unnecessary to state, that, in the 
culture of trees, there are thousands of incidental 
circumstances to which general directions will not 
apply, and which demand a discriminating judgment 
in the operator ; this acts as a school to the mental 
acumen ; and there is no class of operative men^ 
which has the faculties of attention, activity, discri- 
mination, and judgment, more developed, than nm- 
serymen and gardeners, — whose diversified labours^ 
requiring, at the same time, constant mental and 
corporeal exertion, keep up a proper balance of the 
human powers. 



176 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



We leave to the judgment of the operator to pro- 
portion the thickness of sowing of the different kinds 
of seed to the expected size of stem and leaf, imder 
regulation of soil, season, and quality of seed ; and 
to determine whether the plants may be continued 
more than one season in the seed-bed, or be enthely 
or partly drawn the first, which must depend on 
theh luxuiiance and closeness ; also to notice if all 
the seeds have vegetated the first season, or if many 
of them still be inert ; in the latter case, the seedlings 
must be picked out ; to facilitate T^iiich, the earth 
may be gently raised by a three-pronged fork, ^^ith 
as little superficial distm-bance as possible. 

In nm-series, the great and general error is having 
the plants too close together, particularly in the row. 
Eveiy nurser}^-row plant should be of a regTdar cone 
figm-e, with numerous side-branches down near to 
the root, and gradually ^^idening in the cone down- 
wards. These would, indeed, occupy more space of 
package, and probably not please the ignorant pur- 
chaser, who generally prefers a clean, tall body ; but 
they w^ould support the hardships of removal to the 
moor, and be stately trees; when the comely, straight, 
slender plants would either have died altogether, or 
have become miserable, unsightly skeletons, or stimt- 
ed bushes. 



nicol's plantek's calendar. 177 

111 cases where plants are required of considerable 
size, for hedge-rows or park-standards, it is matter 
of doubt, how far frequent removals in nm*sery, or 
cutting of roots, is profitable. This occasions fibrous 
matted roots, which tend much to the success of the 
ultimate removal, and to the growth of the plant for 
several years after ; but, by checking the disposition 
the roots naturally have to extend by several wide- 
diverging leaders, probably unfit the plant for be- 
coming a large tree. 

Mr Sang remarks that sycamore planes and birch 
should not be primed in the latter part of the winter^ 
as they bleed greatly at that season : we have often 
noticed this as early as midwinter, vv^hich also occurs 
to the maple tribe. Om- author introduces the 
mountain-ash as a forest tree, a rank it by no means 
merits, at least for value as a timber tree. When 
exceeding six inches in diameter, it is generally rot- 
ted in the heart, and is only valuable as a copse for 
affording pliant, tough rods ; or twigs, as a charm or 
fetiche against witchcraft ! It is, however, one of 
our most beautiful trees. 

INIr Sang gives directions for kiln-drying fir cones 
previous to thrashing out, or extracting the seeds. 
We have before adverted to this, and would particu- 

M 



178 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



larly reprehend the practice. It is difficult to deter- 
mine how far early friiitfulness and consequent 
infirmity of constitution, diminutiveness of size at 
maturity, and early decay, may originate from kiln- 
drying the cones ; but, from the same process of 
drying in a less degree having been ascertained to 
induce early seed-bearing in the case of other seeds, 
we may infer almost to certainty, that the coniferae 
of this country, not natm-ally planted, are very ma- 
terially inj LU'ed by this practice. 

It is of small consequence, in reference to the tree 
itself, at what season deciduous trees are planted, 
provided they be naked of leaf, and the ground not 
too dry, as they are not liable to lose much by desic- 
cation or evaporation by the bark alone, before the 
roots strike anew in spring, and draw freely from the 
soil; and the skin of the bulb, although the small root- 
lets be broken, sucks up moistm-e from the damp soil 
to repair the loss by superior evaporation : but ever- 
greens — ^firs, hollies, laurels, yews, sometimes suffer 
by removal at a time when the roots do not imme- 
diately strike, as in winter, omng to the torpor from 
cold. We have often seen their juices exhausted, 
and their leaves entirely withered, by a continuation 
of dry northerly winds, the manifest cause of which 



nicol's planter's calendar. 179 

was the great superficial exposure of the leaves eva- 
porating faster than the fractiu*ed torpid roots af- 
forded supply. Therefore, although winter plant- 
ing seldom fails, yet it is perhaps better to seize the 
exact time in spring, immediately before the roots 
commence to strike anew, before there is any new 
top-growth, and while the soil and aii* remain some- 
what moist and cold, that the evaporation may not 
be too great. In this climate, April is a good sea- 
son for removing evergreens to the field, although, to 
throw the work from the busy season, it is often 
practised in the nursery in September, when their 
annual growths are completed, and while there is 
yet warmth to enable the roots to strike anew ; this, 
however, is only ad\dsable where the soil for their 
reception is in the most favourable state, friable, and 
inclining to moist, or when there is great indication 
of rain, and the air near the dew point. Of course 
they require to be planted as soon as extracted. In 
winter or spring, when it happens that evergreens 
must lie in the shough, the most protected situation, 
where the air is moist and still, ought to be chosen, 
and the earth carefully closed to their roots, which 
is best done by watering, if rain be not expected ; 
the stems and branches should also lie as close to the 
ground as possible. 



180 



NOTICE OF AUTHORS. 



There is appended to this valuable Planter's Ca- 
lendar a treatise on the Formation and ISlanage- 
nient of Osier Plantations. As this will not bear 
compression well, we refer om' reader to the volume 
itself 



-( 181 ) 



III. BiLLINGTON ON PLANTING. 

We have perused Billington's account of the ma- 
nagement of the Royal Forests with much profit ; 
it affords us an excellent series of experiments, shew- 
ing how much conduct and integrity may exist in 
Government establishments, even although the strict- 
est watch be not kept over their motions by the na- 
tion itself. Words are awanting to express our ad- 
miration of every thing connected with the manage- 
ment of our misnamed Koyal Wastes. We scarcely 
could have hoped to find such pervading judgment 
and skill of calling, as have been displayed by the 
Commissioners, and Surveyors General and Particu- 
lar ; but it is true, the noble salaries attached to 
these situations must induce men of the very first 
ability and knowledge of the subject, to accept of 
the office. 

Our author, Mr BiUington, proceeds with great 
naivete to relate how they sowed and resowed acorns 
— how they planted and replanted trees, persevering 
even to the fifth time, sometimes covering the roots, 
and sometimes not, " but all would not avail," no- 
thing would do ; the seeds did not vegetate, and the 



182 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



plants refused to grow, excepting in some rare spots, 
and a few general stragglers. Then how the natu- 
ral richness of the soil threw up such a flush of vege- 
tation — of grass, and herhs, and shruhs, that most of 
these plants were buried under this luxuriance ; and 
how the mice and the emmets, and other wayfarers, 
hearing, by the bruit of fame, of the wise men who 
had the governing of Dean, assembled from the ut- 
termost ends of the island, expecting a millennium in 
the forest, and ate up almost every plant which had 
survived the smothering. Now, this is w^ell ; we re- 
joice over the natm-al justice of the native and legi- 
timate inhabitants of the Royal Domain, the weeds 
mastering the invaders the plants, who, year after 
year, to the amount of many millions, made hostile 
entrance into the forest. We only deplore the cruel 
doom of the mice, on whose heads a price was laid, 
and of the emmets, who, acting as allies of the native 
powers, merited a better fate than indiscriminate 
slaughter. 

May we hope that our Government will no longer 
persist in unprofitable endeavom*s to turn cultivator, 
or to raise its own supply ? We laugh at the Pasha 
of Egypt becoming cotton-planter and merchant 
himself, in a country where the exertions of a man 
enlightened beyond his subjects, who has influence 



BILLINGTON ON PLANTING. 



183 



to introduce intelligent cultivators, possessing the 
knowledge of more favoured nations, may be ne- 
cessary to teach and stimulate the ignorant Copt to 
raise a new production : And here, where discovery 
in every branch of knowledge almost exceeds the 
progressive — here, where so many public and govern- 
ment fixtures stand out, as if left on purpose to 
indicate the recent march of mind, contrasting so 
strongly with private and individual attainment in 
science and art, — with every thing the reverse of what 
affects the Egyptian's conduct ; or, at least, with no 
excuse beyond affording a cover for a wasteful expen- 
diture of the pubhc money ; — will our Government 
continue the system, heedless of reason or ridicule ? 
or will they not at once end these practices, and im- 
mediately commence sales of every acre of ground to 
which the Crown has claim, excepting what is neces- 
sary for the use of royalty, abolishing Woods and 
Forest Generals, Rangers — every one who has taken 
rank under Jacques' Greek, or the devil's own invo- 
cation, and pay off a part of the debt which is crush- 
ing the energies of the first of nations ? 

Yet it is not of individuals that we complain ; 
perhaps nobody could have had a stronger desire to 
do his duty, than the late Surveyor-General. It is 
the system that is naught ; where, to the lowest la- 



184 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



bourer, none have individual interest in the success 
of their work ; and where the efforts of the really 
honest, intelligent, and industrious are, by directions 
and trammels, rendered unavailing ; or even through 
misrepresentation by those of a contrary character, 
(as would seem in the case of Mr Billington), are the 
cause of dismissal. 

We can only predicate of the future from the past. 
In spite of all our Parliamentary acts respecting 
these forests, and the clamour that for ages has been 
made about them, they, with little exception, have 
existed only as cover for sinecure expenditure, or for 
display of tyro ignorance and incapacity, and sub- 
ject for pillage, thieving, and frauds of every descrip- 
tion ; {vide Parliamentary Heports). We could 
easily — by a very simple incantation, requiring a rod 
neither tipped with silver nor with gold, but merely 
a plain cane or sword— bring forth a sufficient quan- 
tity of large growing oaks to meet any emergency. 
Our charm would be to give the title of Prince to 
the Duke who should possess, and have at the com- 
mand of Government at a fair price, a certain num- 

* They say a better management has lately been established. 
This may be followed for a short time in the high stream of the 
agitation, or while the present heads of management remain in 
power ; but the system, we fear, contains the seeds of evil, which, 
like the weeds, will soon overwhelm the alien good. 



BILI.INGTON ON PLANTING. 



185 



ber of oaks above a certain size, and a step of eleva- 
tion to eveTy titled person, and the title of Baronet 
to every private gentleman, who should possess a 
given number, diminishing the number requisite to 
give a step as the title became lower. We should 
conceive this law would not render nobility of less 
estimation. Perhaps the clause might be added, 
that one tree raised on waste ground should count 
two. 

As a treatise on the rearing, or rather prevention of 
the rearing, of young planting, Mr Billington's small 
volume possesses some real merit ; and simplicity and 
usefid and sagacious remark are so blended together, 
as to afford to the reader at once amusement and in- 
fonnation. We are something at a loss to account 
for this incongruity. Has the seclusion of a forest 
life given a cast of the naturel to his mental pro- 
duct ; or has Jaques of Arden really been in Dean 
with his celebrated invocation ? 

Mr Billington's directions on pruning and train- 
ing are generally good ; but he distances common 
sense when on his hobby of shortening of side 
branches, in recommending to extend this practice to 
pines. His breeding as a gardener, and consequent 
taste for espalier and wall-training, where every shoot 
must be under especial direction, seem to have un- 



186 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



fitted his mind to expand to the comprehension of 
nature's own process of action, and disquahfied him 
from walking hand in hand with her. We also con- 
sider that no good, hut rather e\il, would result from 
continued cutting in, and lopping off the points of 
the branches of all kinds of trees, excepting when the 
plants were stunted, or much covered with flower-buds. 
Even a very slight clipping greatly retards the growth 
of hedges ; and the labom- and attention requisite 
would be very great : besides, the poor things, the 
trees, trimmed to the BiUingtonian standard, would, 
amongst the unrestrained beauties of the forest, be 
ready to sink into the earth for very shame of their 
formal deformity. He errs, too, in recommending 
not to plant sycamore plane, as being of little value 
while young. We have sold young planes, six or 
seven inches in diameter, at a higher price per foot 
than large oak. They will generally find a good 
market wherever machinery abounds, and will pro- 
bably become every year in greater request. 

Mr Billington is particularly solicitous to render 
his instructions as plain as possible, in describing the 
mode of pruning young oaks in formation of knee 
timber, as he confesses to bring it down to the com- 
prehension of gentlemen ; but he is not very happy 
in his figiu'es of oak trees trained to this use, from 



BILLINGTON ON PLANTING. 



187 



want of acquaintance with the cutting out of naval 
crooks. He remarks that " larches are more Hable 
to die in wet ground by their roots being soaked in 
water during winter, than oak and some other kinds 
but ground that is at all pervious to water, ought 
not to be planted till it be drained in such a manner 
that water will soon disappear from shallow holes ; 
and where, from the plastic closeness of the clay, 
draining is not quite effectual, the planting should 
take place as late in the spring as the breaking of 
the buds will permit ; and principally by slitting, 
which, by not breaking the natural coherence or tur- 
finess of the soil, affords less opening for water to 
stagnate around the roots, and does not occasion the 
soil to sink down into the mortary consistence con- 
sequent to pitting; there is also less destruction of 
the vegetables growing in the soil, hence less putres- 
cent matter to taint the water that may stagnate 
round the roots ; pure water, or water in motion, not 
being detrimental to the roots for a considerable 
time : also, when the plants are put in late in spring, 
there is seldom long stagnation of water that season, 
and by next winter the ground has become so firmed 
around the roots as to allow very little space for wa- 
ter, and has also acquired a certain granular arrange- 
ment akin to polarization or crystallization, which 



188 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



allows the water gradually to percolate ; it is also 
bored by the earth-worm, and other insects, and the 
plant itself, after the roots have struck anew and the 
fractures healed, possesses a vitality which better 
enables it to withstand the exclusion of air from the 
roots, and chilling by the water the ensuing win- 
ter, and either prevents absorption of the stagnant 
fluid, or counteracts its putrid tendency. Planting 
succeeds best in soil of this description when the 
ground has been under grass for some period, at least 
the new planted tree, in this case, is less liable to the 
root-rot ; and trenching or digging previous to plant- 
ing is of more utility, as the turfiness prevents the 
€lay from sinking down into impervious mortar, and 
allows the water to percolate to the drains. 

Mr Billington is very earnest in recommending 
to drain well at first, and to keep the drains (open 
drains) in repair ; he also directs, where the ground 
is very impervious and wet, to take large square 
sods, about 18 inches square and 9 inches thick, 
from the drains while digging in early winter, and 
place one of these, the grassy side undermost, in the 
site which each plant is to occupy. In the spring, 
by the time of planting, the sod has become firmly 
fixed, and the two swards rotting afford an excellent 
noiuishment to the plant, which is inserted in the 



BILLINGTON ON PLANTING. 



189 



centre of the sod, with the roots as deep as the ori- 
ginal surface ; the drains, being necessarily nume- 
rous, afford turf sufficient for all the plants. This 
is good. He also gives sensible directions to beat 
down, hoe, or cut away all weeds, shrubs, and grass, 
from the young plants, and to remove all rough 
herbage and thickets of shrubs, that form harbour 
for the short-tailed mouse, which is exceedingly de- 
structive, in the case both of planting and sowing ; 
in the former, by nibbling the bark from the stem, 
and biting off the twigs of the young trees, (from 
which om* author may have taken the hint of cutting 
in, as mankind took that of pruning from the brows- 
ing of the ass), and gnawing their roots immediately 
below the surface of the ground ; and in the latter, 
by devouring the seed in the ground, and cutting 
down the seedling annual shoot. He also instructs 
to keep the tree to one leader, shortening all strag- 
gling large branches ; but his assertion, that plants 
which had the tops of the straggling branches pinch- 
ed off in the first part of summer, grew much larger 
in consequence, looks rather absurd ; although we 
have known a part of a hedge, clipped a week or two 
after the growth had commenced in spring, grow 
more luxuriantly than the part which had been 
pruned in the same manner before the growth had 



190 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



commenced. This was owing to the check by the 
late clipping, throwing the period of growth into 
wann moist July ; what was earlier clipped perform- 
ed its growth in dry June, and was considerably in- 
jured by the manna blight which the latter escaped ^. 
The same cause operates to induce late sown grain 
and wheat, which has been throTO late by much 
injury of spring frost, to acquire a larger, more luxu- 
riant bulk, than that of earlier growth. 

It would appear to us that Mr Billington, from ig- 
norance of the value of larch, and of the soil proper for 
maturing it, has done more injmy to the parts of 
the royal forests where a growth of timber was ob- 
tained, by cutting out the thri\ing larch, than will 
be compensated by his pruning and training of the 
sickly stunted oak which remained, as described by 
him, scarcely visible, when the larches were of size 
for country use ; but we forget ; no blame can attach 
to him — his orders were, that every thing should 
give place to oak. 

* The inferior growth of the part of a hedge which was pruned 
before the vegetation had begun, may be ascribed to the vital ac- 
tion having been checked at the commencement by the destiiic- 
tion of the buds necessary to stimulate this action ; and being de- 
prived of this first strong impulse, life had remained languid 
throughout the season, the roots never recovering their proper 
suction or foraging power ; — when the pruning was later, a suffi- 
cient stimulus had already been given. 

3 



BILLINGTON ON PLANTING. 191 

In i^artliig with our author, it is but just to state, 
that we consider many may profit by a perusal of 
his pages : that notmthstanding the simplicity to 
which we have alluded, there is often something 
sterling in his remarks and reflections, the result of 
much experience, resembling the original freshness 
of our writers before writing became so much of a 
trade. In some places, indeed, his narrative is so 
simply, naturally descriptive, and speaks so eloquent- 
ly, of ignorance of climate, season, soil, circumstance 
— of all the unknown dangers and dixF.culties inci- 
dent to their new emplopnent — and of the w^onder- 
ftJ contrivances and inventions hit upon to remedy 
them — that, when perusing it, we could scarcely per- 
suade oiurselves we were not engaged with Robinson 
Crusoe. 



192 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



IV. — Forsyth on Fruit and Forest Trees. 



The surgery of trees , which this author has the 
great merit of almost perfecting, is the only import- 
ant matter in this volume. His composition salve, 
on the merits of which he expatiates so much, and 
for the discovery of which he received a premium 
from the collective wisdom of the nation assembled 
in Parliament, is, however, a piece of mere quackery; 
and all the virtue of his practice lies in the cutting 
out of the dead and diseased parts of the tree, thus 
effecting for vegetables by excision, what nature her- 
self performs for animals by suppuration, exfolia- 
tion, and absorption. 

Mr Forsyth's surgery is of slight importance to 
timber trees in respect of economy, as with them as 
with man, it is generally easier to raise up anew than 
cure the diseased. Yet it is well that the rationale 
of this practice be understood by foresters, more in 
regard to prevention than cure ; an occasion will how- 
ever sometimes occur where a tree may economically 
be benefited by surgical aid : and in cases where the 



FOESYTH ON FRUIT AND FOREST TREES. 193 

Dryades acquire lasting attachment to particular ob- 
jects, the science is invaluable, as the object of their 
love may be thus continued flourishing to the end of 
time, or as long as the inamorata chooses to pay the 
surgeon. 

Mr Forsyth presents us with numerous models of 
knives, irons, and gouges, suited to the operation of 
removing the dead parts of his patients. Where 
the gangrene occurs in the outside, he hews and 
scrapes away with these till every portion in which 
the vital principle is extinct be detached, and the 
surface all regular and smooth, so scooped out as to 
afford no hollow where water may rest. He then 
gives a coating of his composition salve to all the 
space operated on, wherever the cuticle of the bark 
has been broken, which prevents the drought, rain 
or air, from injuring the bared parts till the bark 
spread over it. In cases where the removal of all 
the dead part at once would endanger the stability 
of the tree, he first removes it along the borders of 
the decayed part all round, close to the sound bark, 
of such a breadth as to give full room for the bark to 
spread over in one season, and covers this with his 
pigment, annually repeating the cutting out, and 
painting around the rim or edge of the new-formed 
bark, till the whole of the dead part be cleared away, 

N 



194 NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 

Under this treatment, the excavation is gradually 
filled up with the new wood forming under the 
spreading bark, and the wound becomes cleanly ci- 
catrized. Mr Forsyth has effected complete reno- 
vation, where the sound vital part consisted only of 
a narrow stripe of bark and alburnum upon one side 
of the stem, and where two cart loads of the diseased 
trunk had been scooped out. 

When the heart of the tree is decayed, he makes 
a section longitudinally in the side of the tree, as 
far up and down as the rot extends, and of sufficient 
width to admit the working out the diseased part ; 
and managed as above, the bark and wood gradu- 
ally extend from the two sides of the section into 
the vacuity, and fill it up entirely with new sound 
timber. When the tree is of considerable diameter, 
the opening formed in the side of the stem must be 
wide, nearly extending to half the circumference, 
otherwise the sides of the section would meet be- 
fore the bark extended over all the inside. When 
the bark from the two sides approaches to touch in 
the bottom of the hollow, he pares off the cuticle 
from each side where they join, in order that they 
may unite thoroughly. Should any of the roots be 
diseased, he removes the earth, and pares away the 
corrupting parts ; and if the top be stunted or sick- 



FOESYTH ON FRUIT AND FOREST TREES. 195 



ly, he crops it at the joints where the smaller 
branches separate, whence numerous fine strong 
shoots spring forth, whose new vigour of vegetation, 
and absence of drain by seeding for several years, 
generally renovate the whole plant, and occasion the 
filling up of the wounds (should the trunk be under 
cure) to proceed rapidly. 

Need we mention, that it is only in the cases 
where the partial death or decay has resulted from 
casualty, or something not connected with the gene- 
ral system of the plant, or with the soil, or other 
external circumstances (unless these can be changed), 
that renovation by clearing away the decayed or 
sickly parts is attainable? Where the plant is sink- 
ing from mere old age, a source of decay of which in 
some kinds at least we have doubts, or from the soil 
being improper or exhausted for the particular kind 
of plant by long occupancy, or from any circumstance 
not admitting of remedy, the attempt to heal up the 
wounds caused by cutting out the diseased parts, or 
I to induce new vigour by cropping the top, must be 
abortive, or only attended with partial or tempo- 
rary success. 

Our author, who is a practical man, apparently 
very little disposed to throw away time upon in- 
quiring into causes, does not attempt even to guess at 

N21 

( 



i96 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



the mode by which his composition performs the 
wonders for which he gives it credit. It is impos- 
sible, by any salve, to promote discharge from the 
bare alburnum, though cut into the vital part, to 
form, or assist in the formation, of bark ; and the 
sum of the resulting advantages consists in prevent- 
ing the vitality from becoming extinct far inward 
from the section (as under the best management to 
a certain extent it will become so), by an antiseptic 
cover from the drought and moisture, heat and cold; 
in promoting the spread of the juices from the edge 
of the bark over the bared part by exclusion of 
drought, and by forming a defence against insects. 
W e have found a paste of pm-e clay, wTought up 
with some fibrous matter, as chaff or short hay, an 
excellent cover for tree wounds, applied in spring or 
early summer, w^hen dry weather followed the ap- 
plication ; but in autumn or mnter, and when moist 
weather followed, the clay, by remaining wet, only 
served to induce corruption. We think this clay 
paste (probably benefited by a pow^dering of char- 
coal on the inside) the best application when applied 
in spring. We have seen a terminal cross section, 
of about one inch diameter, of a long branch, co- 
vered quite over in two months with bark when 
clayed; and a tree of three inches in diameter, from 



FORSYTH ON FIIUIT AND FOREST TREES. 197 



which a dog had torn off the bark from one half of 
the circumference of the stem, entirely renew the 
lost bark in one season, when immediately clayed 
over. Resins, oils, bitumen, paints and composts 
without number, have been used with more or less 
success, depending upon the period of the year, wea- 
ther, kind of tree, individual health, and other cir- 
cumstances ; but these salves should, as in flesh- 
wound salves, be considered only as protections, or 
slightly auxiliary to the restorative energy of na- 
ture, not as cures. 



198 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



V. — Mr Withers. 



Having by chance glanced over a pamphlet by 
an Englishman, a Mr Withers, we find there has 
been jousting between that gentleman and our Scot- 
tish knights, backed by their squire the Edinburgh 
Reviewer, in which the discomfiture of the knights 
has been wrought by simple hands. 

It seems Sir Henry Steuart, forgetful that his own 
bright fame, which rivals that of the discoverers of 
steam-power and gas*, though of comparatively quick 
growth, will endure for ages ; and led astray, pro- 
bably, by the foolish adage, soon ripe, soon rotten,'* 
had stated unqualifiedly, that " fast grown timber 
will sooner decay, and is of opener weaker texture 
than slow grown of the same kind and on these 
false premises concluded, that all culture or applica- 
tion of manure to farther the growth of timber is 
improper — winding up with some patriotic flourish 
about danger to our war navy, from Mr Withers 



^ Vide Sir Walter Scott. 



MR WITHERS. 



199 



rendering the British oak of such exceedingly rapid 
growth as to be soft and perishable as mushrooms. 
Withers completely demolishes his literary and scien- 
tific adversaries, but is, withal, so very imperfectly 
acquainted with the subject— himself and also his 
junto of experienced correspondents, that we shall 
attempt a few lines in elucidation. 

We shall first state our facts, accompanied with 
explanatory remarks. 

No. 1. An ash tree of about 18 inches diameter, 
and 65 years of age. The first 35 years, the annual 
growths were of middle size, and the timber weighty 
and tough; the following 15 years, very small, light, 
porous, and free; the latter 15 of middle size, and 
of fair quality. This tree had been growing till 
about 49 years of age in a grassy avenue, of dry 
clay soil, and close by a deep ditch. About sixteen 
years back, the ditch had been filled up, and the 
ground ploughed and manured regularly till the 
tree was cut down. After 35 years' growth, the 
scorching roots of the ash had rendered the soil so 
dry, that the tree had run entirely to reproduction : 
Nearly all the nourishment from the ground as- 
similated in the leaves being expended in forming 
seedy no extension of the top had taken place, and 



200 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



thence no thicltening of the hole heing necessary 
for supi^ort, no wood ^proper had heen deposited 
on the trunk save the annual rings of lineal tubes 
to convey the sap, which constituted a brittle light 
wood, of very slight lateral adhesion After the 
ditch was filled up, and the surrounding ground 
ploughed and manured, the increased supply of mois- 
ture and nourishment had induced a considerable 
new extension of top (which was quite visible in fine 
young healthy branches rising from a stunted base), 
and consequent necessary thickening of stem by an- 
nual layers of proper dense wood, along with the 
lineal annual tubes. 

No. 2. A beautifiil most luxuriant growing oak, 
in one of the sweetest sunny spots of the sweet- 
est valley of our Highlands. This tree, of near- 
ly two hundred solid feet of timber, and 80 years 
of age, was growing upon the bare shelf of a 
sound mica- schist rock. From underneath this 
shelf, several feet down in front, a most exuberant 
.spring welled out, and the roots spread down over 

* The want of the annual layers of cellular tissue of wood, 
exterior to and separating the annual lineal tubes, is so com- 
plete in some cases of slow growth, that the timber seems only a 
light congeries of tubes, without arrangement ; hence the age of 
the tree cannot be determined but by a section of the root-bulb, 
ivhere the growths are larger, and the deposits regular^ 



MR WITHERS. 



201 



the rock to the mouth of the crystal spring, no 
douht tracing inward the course of the limpid wa- 
ters into the rocky chambers of the Naiad. We 
had much conjecture how this tree came to be grow- 
ing on the bare shelf, and finally concluded, that the 
nymph of the spring, while she sat there gazing on 
her beauties, under the varying dimpling reflection 
of the living waters, her rosy feet bathed by the 
glassy flood, had been surprised by some rude Celt, 
and to effect escape from his rough embrace, had 
been transformed by Diana into a tree. Yet whe- 
ther of natural or supernatural origin, it was by the 
people of the glen held of miraculous virtue, and 
the sickly children were brought to be dipped in 
the spring after being borne several times round the 
charm-tree. When torn from its seat, the tree, 
though sound, and having a level fall (we saw it 
fall), broke across about twenty feet up, where the 
stem was about eight feet in circuit ; this ivas owing 
to the very soft tender nature of the wood, which, 
although consisting of very large annual growths, 
was, when sawn out, the most porous insufficient 
Scots oah ive have ever seen. As this fact may be 
ascribed to the supernatural, — the heart of the 
nymph beginning to soften towards the Celt at 
the time Diana interfered, accounting well for 



202 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



the soft texture of the heart-wood of the tree, we 
shall not press it as a proof on either side of the 
controversy. Perhaps sober reasoners may think 
this all phantasy, and conclude, that the tree, from 
deficiency of substantial earthy food, and subsisting 
principally on slops (being mainly nourished by 
drinking of the delicious well), would, like an ani- 
mal under similar circumstances, be of soft flabby 
consistency. 

The above fact is opposed to common opinion — ^a 
Highlander always choosing his oaken staff from off 
a rock, as being most to depend upon ; yet perhaps 
this preference is owing to some association with the 
hardness of the rock itself 

No. 3. We found a sycamore plane (Acer pseudo- 
platanus) in the same row with other sycamores, and 
about the same size, so exceeding hard that it could 
scarcely be cut down by mattock and hatchet, where- 
as the others adjacent were comparatively of mode- 
rate hardness, though differing considerably in hard- 
ness from each other ; the soil in this case was very 
equable, being of Carse clay. The peculiar hard- 
ness of this tree could only be attributable to a 
harder variety. Indeed, the difference of quality in 
timber depends chiefly on the infinite varieties ex- 
isting in what is called Species, though soil and cli- 



MR WITHERS. 



203 



mate have no doubt considerable influence, both in 
forming the variety, and in modifying it while 
growing. Of varieties, those which have the thinnest 
bark, under equal exposure, have the hardest wood. 

No. 4. We have cut a number of large old ash trees, 
and found, with one or two exceptions, of what is cal- 
led thunder-struck trees (which we consider only an 
obdurate variety), that they were invariably of very 
free, weak consistency, more especially the latter 
formed growths, but even the earlier growths had 
become /rw^A from age. This timber soon went to 
decay after being cut down : — one piece cut out into 
planks, and these being laid down in the order they 
occupied in the log, was in the course of some weeks 
rendered again entire by being agglutinated by 
Jew's ears (a species of fungus.) The workmen were 
greatly startled at the fact, thinking the log be- 
witched. When immediately dissevered by wedges, 
the wood was so much decomposed, that its fibre 
was tenderer than the Jew's ears, separating in a 
new course in most places, in preference to the saw 
draught occupied by the ears. We have found very 
old oaks have exactly the same friable character, so 
much so, as render their safe felling almost impossi- 
ble ; yet this oak timber had not lost much in weight 



204 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



when compared, after being dried, with younger 
oak. 

No. 5. We cut a row of ash trees, about 50 years of 
age, in dry Carse clay, by the side of a deep ditch, 
and consequently of slow growth ; the timber was 
excellent, hard, strong, and weighty, rather most so 
where the size was smallest. At one end, where the 
row approached a brook, and the soil became richer 
and moister, several of the trees were of good size, 
but rather inferior in quality of timber, excepting 
one (the largest, though not the nearest to the 
brook), which was of very hard, strong, and reedy 
fibre, evidently a variety differing much from the 
others. It is always easy to discriminate pretty ac- 
curately the quality of the wood, by examination of 
the saw cross section of the trunk, that is, provided 
the same saw be employed, and be kept equally 
sharp ; the best timber having the glossiest, smooth- 
est section. 

No. 6. We have examined Scots fir grown in many 
different situations; by far the best quality, of its age, 
of any we know, stands upon a very adhesive Carse 
clay, which, from the proprietor's neglect, is all winter 
and in wet weather soaking with water, and the trees 
not of very luxuriant growth. These, till a few years 
ago, stood in close order, without the stem being 



MR WITHERS. 



205 



much exposed to parching or evaporation ; this ex- 
posure of the stem rendering fir timher much 
hardei and more resinous. Every body who has 
touched larch must be convinced that the slow 
grown on poor tills ^ especially with long naked stems 
in exposed situation^ is very much stronger and 
harder than the quick grown, though often not so 
tough : but much depends on the variety in larch, 
those having the reddest matured wood being much 
harder than the paler coloured, 

Memel fir, which is the largest growthed red 
pine we are acquainted with, is gone r a - B y-e»feeeffled 
very strong and durable, probably next to the pitch 
pine of North America ; yet the very large growthed 
Memel is generally weakest, though we frequently 
find a log of small growthed, mild and inferior 
in strength. In old buildings we have often wit- 
nessed the beautiful small growthed red wood pine 
wormed, when the larger growthed was sound, but 
we are sensible that spontaneous decomposition and 
consumption by insects are very different ; much re- 
sin deters insects, whereas, in moist situations, as in 
treenails of vessels, it conduces to spontaneous de- 
cay ; yet is it preservative when the timber is ex- 
posed to the weather by excluding the rain. 



£06 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



The coniferae differ much in the internal arrange- 
ment of their woody structure from the hard wood 
species, having tissue of much larger cells, and be- 
ing generally destitute of the large lineal tubes, 
which in hai'd wood constitute the more porous in- 
ner part of the annual layer. When these tubes 
occur in the pines, they also differ in position, being 
in the outer part of the layer. Owing to the resin 
of the pines becoming fixed in the cells of the outer 
part of the annual layers, inspissated, w^e think, by 
the summer's heat and drought (others say congealed 
by the cold), these cells are filled up, and this part 
of the growth rendered much denser than the in- 
ner part of the layer, being from solidity semi-tran- 
sparent. We woidd attribute the abundance of 
resin in the Georgian pitch pine to the heat and 
long summer of that country, probably in concert 
with damp richness of soil, not only occasioning this 
deposit under these circumstances, but perhaps in- 
ducing a disposition in this species to the formation 
of this product The absence of the Jlise^ tubes, 

* The climate of a country in regard to annual steadiness, 
can be pretty accurately determined by the appearance of the 
annual layers of trees, especially of the pine tribe ; and in a new 
settlement where great difference of size of layer, and of resinous 
deposit is observed, we may be pretty certain the seasons are not 

3 



MR WITHERS. 



207 



and the presence of oleaginous resin, render pine tim- 
ber, when old and small grbwthed, not so brittle, nor 
so liable to decay, as that of deciduous trees ; but it 
becomes very deficient in lateral adhesion. From the 
same cause we find the external layers of matured 
pine timber comparatively superior to the quality of 
the inner layers : in hard wood the exterior layers 
are generally much inferior to the inner. Boards of 
sap-wood of fast grown Scots fir, particularly of the 
outside layers are much better suited — stronger and 
more lasting, for boxes used as carriage packages, 
or for machinery or cart lining much exposed to 
blows and friction ; than boards of the best matured 
red wood of Memel, Swedish, or Norway pine. This 
is principally owing to the fast grown alburnum 
possessing much greater lateral adhesion than the 
matured wood of old pines. To have these sap- 
wood boards in greatest perfection, the tree must 

steady, or that insect depredations or blights occur ; and a reserve 
of food ought always to be retained. By careful inspection of 
the nature of the annual wood deposit, or of the locality with re- 
gard to moisture, it may be ascertained;, whether the irregularity 
has been owing to difference of temperature, or of moisture, lu 
warm climates the irregularity will generally depend on drought 
and moisture, and in cold climates on heat and cold ; though 
sometimes the depredations of insects, such as locusts, or of 
blights, may be the cause. 

I 



208 



NOTICES OF AUTHOES. 



not lie in the bark after felling, and the boards must 
be well di'ied soon after being cut out. To expose 
the tree, peeled, either standing or felled, to the sun 
and dry air for some time, vnll considerably increase 
the strength of this alburnum. The wood, while in 
the state of sap-wood, of many kinds of timber is as 
strong and much tougher than the same wood after 
being matui'ed, and would be equally valuable were 
any process discovered of rendering it equally dura- 
ble ; its insufficiency often arises from partial decay 
having occurred while in the log. The same sap- 
wood of oak, which, allowed to lie on the grass after 
being peeled in spring, will be so much decomposed in 
autumn that it may be kicked off with one's heel ; 
if cut out and dried immediately on being felled, it 
will be tougher than the matured, and, kept dry as 
cart-spokes, and defended by paint from the worm, 
will last and retain its toughness for an age. The 
tilling up, which to a certain extent occm's in ma- 
tui'ing, is most probably deposited to fill up tubes, 
and may thus not greatly strengthen the mass ; 
a hollow cylinder being stronger than a solid cylin- 
der when extending horizontally over a considerable 
stretch, like a joist or beam ; the mass may also be- 
come a little more fragile by matming : besides a fill- 
ing up is the result of some chemical change the 



Mil WITHEES- 



wood probably becoming slightly carbonized or ap- 
proaching to that change which takes place when 
vegetables become peat. 

It is rather difficult to speak of the strength of tim- 
ber, as different kinds of timber, and different parts 
and qualities of the same kind of timber, have diffe- 
rent kinds of strength. Some kinds are stronger as 
beams or joists, other kinds as boarding; while, again, 
some kinds are better for enduring a regular pres- 
sure, others for supporting a sudden jerk or blow, 
either as beams or boards. Some kinds are also 
comparatively stronger, moist ; others when dry — 
and some kinds retain their qualities of strength or 
toughness longer than others when moist, and 
others longer when dry, although no rot appear. 

No. 7. Purposely for experiment*, we selected three 
ash trees, all growing in Carse clay, but differing the 
most in fastness of growth of any we could discover. 
We cut these down on the same day ; two of them 
proved about 36 years planted, and the third 1 5 ; 
this, the youngest was of fast growth, and had 
layers of more than double the size of one of the 

• Though we give this experiment, we admit that little de- 
pendence can be placed upon a single fact. The trees must have 
been different in variety, and probably in sexj, both of which may 
occasion a discrepancy, 

O 



210 



NOTICE OF AUTHORS. 



former, and about six times that of the other. We 
cut a number of pieces of exactly equal length and 
thickness (17 inches long, and nearly an inch on 
the side), from each of these, choosing them of clean 
straight fibre, at equal distance from the ground, 
and from the outside of the tree, and having their 
growths nearly parallel to one side, of course free of 
heart. We proved one of each immediately on be- 
ing cut out while full of sap^ with their growths on 
edge in horizontal position, supported at each end 
with a weight suspended from the middle. The small- 
est growthed, and the largest, weighed at the time of 
trial nearly equal; the medium growthed one-thirtieth 
more. The smallest growthed supported the weight 
about six minutes; the medium and the largest 
about half that time ; the smallest growthed yielded 
the least before breaking, and the largest yielded 
the most. When completely dried, the weight of 
the medium growthed still continued greatest, surpas- 
sing the largest one-fourteenth, and the smallest 
about one- thirtieth. The smallest and medium sup- 
ported nearly equal weight, during equal time, and 
outbore the largest about one-seventh * ; when placed 

* The time the weight is in suspension, must be attended to. 
A beam will support a much gi-eater weight during a minute 
than during an hour ; and two beams may be found, the one ca- 



Mil WITHERS. 



211 



with the growths on edge, they were stronger than 
when placed with the growths flat. 

After these rather lengthy references to facts, we 
must allude to a circumstance which we are astonish- 
ed has not been attended to by Mr Withers, and his 
gentlemen correspondents connected with His Ma- 
jesty's docks, — the not taking into account the place 
of the tree whence the portion of wood for experi- 
menting the strength had been taken, and also how 
the annual layers stood, whether horizontal or on 
edge, or around a centre, when the weight was ap- 
plied. The experienced and accurately practical 
ISJr Withers presents two specimens of oak, the one 
of faster and the other of slower growth, to Profes- 
sor Barlow, of Woolwich Royal Academy, and the 
strength of these specimens is tested and reported 
upon, without once alluding to what we have men- 
tioned above. Now, if this has not been attended 
to, the experiment may be considered a test of 
something else than of the timber. How much 
the strength is affected by the place of the tree, 
any person may satisfy himself by proving one 
piece of timber taken from near the root, another 
half way up the tree, and a third near the top: 
he will find that in a tall tree the comparative 

pable of supporting the greatest weight during^ a minute, and the- 
other the greatest during an hom\ 

Q £ 



212 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



strength will sometimes vary as much as 3, 2, 1; 
that is, a beam, say 2 inches square, and 4 feet long, 
taken from near the root, when horizontally placed, 
and resting only at each end, will support three 
times as much as a like beam in like position from 
near the top of the tree, although both are equally 
clear of knots or cross section of grain. This is par- 
ticularly manifest in large fast-grown silver fir and 
old ash, and the difference is always greatest in old 
trees. He will also find that the position of the 
beam, in respect to the layers being circular round 
the heart, flat, on edge, or at an angle, has consider- 
able influence, and, should he inquire farther, will 
perhaps notice, that the timber from different sides 
of the tree is not always alike strong ; that one speci- 
men of timber will be superior to another, both being 
moist, and inferior to it when both are dry, and that 
also, as in No. 1, the tree at the same height on the 
same side, will contain timber diff^ering in strength 
fully one half, and not always diminishing in strength 
from the heart outwards, even in hard wood. We 
are well pleased with one gentleman of the Navy 
Dock-yard, who naively admits, that he is incompe- 
tent to decide on these subjects, having been alto- 
gether devoted to the mathematical, in estimating 
the strain and resistance timber suffers under dif- 



MR WITHERS. 



213 



ferent combinations. Now we like this division of 
labour. 

But to return to our subject. The facts stated 
go to prove, that the quality of timber depends much 
upon soil, circumstance, and more especially on va- 
riety ; and that in the early period of the growth of 
trees, before much seeding, and when the soil is not 
much exhausted of the particular pabulum neces- 
sary for the kind of plant, that rather slow grown 
timber is superior in strength to quick grown, espe- 
cially when the quickness exceeds a certain degree ; 
when this degree is exceeded, the timber is not so 
weighty, and is well known not to be so durable. 
However, when timber is required of considerable 
scantling, it is only in good soils, where the tree 
increases moderately fast, that timber will attain 
sufficient size for this, at an age young enough to 
retain its toughness throughout, or to continue 
forming firm dense w^ood on the exterior. This is 
particularly so in the case of hard- wood timber, more 
especially when oak grows upon a moist soil, where 
the matured wood, of brownish-red colour, is often 
unsound, and where decay commences at a compara- 
tively early period. In the pine, owing to the olea- 
ginous undrying nature of the sap (resin), the tim- 



214 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



ber retains its strength to a great age ; and the 
reedy closeness of slow growth, for most purposes, 
outbalances any loss from deficiency of lateral adhe- 
sion. 

Moderately fast grown timber is much more 
requisite for naval purposes than for other uses; as, 
besides the greater longitudinal strength when of 
large dimension, it has greater adhesion laterally, is 
far more pliant, and therefore much better suited 
for the ribs of vessels, where cross cutting a portion 
of the fibre, from the inattention to training to pro- 
per bends, is unavoidable ; and whence a disrupting 
shock (which is rather to be vsdthstood than fair 
pressure), makes the unyielding splintering old wood 
ily like ice ; the rift commencing its run from the 
€ut fibre. For plank, the lateral adhesion and pli- 
ancy of young moderately fast grown timber is 
equally valuable, especially for those which are ap- 
plied to the curvature of the bow and stern. Young 
timber also softens much better by steam, therefore 
is more convenient for planking, and for being bent 
for the compass timbers of large vessels. The ves- 
sel constructed of it will besides, from the general 
elasticity of the fibre, be more lively in the water, 
sail faster, and, though stronger to resist, will 



MR WITHERS. 



^15 



have less strain to endure Mr Withers's cor- 
responding friends, especially those of his Majes- 
ty's Dock-yards, with the good common sense of 
practical men, are well acquainted with all this, al- 
though they get a little out of element when they 
meddle with nature or causes. Mr Withers is him- 
self equally out of element when he expatiates on 
the mighty advantage of trenching and manuring 
at planting, and when he talks of our Scottish holes. 
The Knight, too, is still more at fault in dreading 
any great influence on the quickness of the growth 
of trees from this gentleman's 7iew ifiventions, — and 
doubly at fault, from conjecturing our navy would 
suffer from being constructed of the fastest grown 
British timber there is any chance of our shipwrights 
obtaining. Since we were in our teens, we have al- 
most every season trenched a portion of ground for 
planting, and have manured highly at planting f , 

* We shall not here introduce the interminable discussion of 
diy-rot, as it remains to be proved that moderately fast grown 
young timber is at all more liable to dry-rot than small-growthed 
old, provided the sap-wood be entirely removed. 

t In fairness, it may be proper to explain^ that the greater 
part of the trees we have thus cultivated have been of P^rus, al- 
though we commenced the practice with common forest trees — 
yet the pear and apple vary nothing from the oak and ash in the 
primary stage of life, in as far as respects the extension— we can 



^16 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



and for several years afterwards. We have found, 
when very adhesive suhsoil was brought upward, 
that the trees throve well while the ground conti- 
nued under cultivation ; but when the labour ceased, 
they w^re soon overtaken by those planted at the 
same time without trenching. This comparative 
falling off was evidently owing to the surface being 
rendered more adhesive by the gluey plastic subsoil 
being mixed upward with the original small portion 
of surface-mould. This new surface melted to a 
pulp by the winter rains, when drought set in in 
spring, run together, became indurated, and parting 
into divisions, admitted the drought down to the 
unstirred ground by numerous deep and wide cracks, 
which rent the rootlets of the trees, and rendered it 
impossible for any plant to thrive. There are also 
many kinds of light subsoil, which it would be folly 
to bring to the surface, and where little profit would 
arise from deep stirring, even though the surface 
were retained uppermost. 

In cases where the plants were very small, we have 
found deep trenching of no benefit, but in certain 

also profit fully as much by raising apple timber of proper fast 
grown variety, as by any other timber ; and have it in our power 
to sell this timber to machine-makers at double the price of oak of 
the same size. 



MR WITHERS. 



217 



soils rather hurtful, eveu during the first years ; but 
with larger plants, such as are often used in Eng- 
land, it invariably occasioned their roots to strike 
quickly, by affording a regular supply of moisture, 
and from being easily permeated by the rootlets, 
expedited the growth, yielding much early luxuri- 
ance when followed by skilful cultm'e, but latterly, 
seldom to such a degree as would lead us to suppose 
much difference would be discernible at 30 years of 
age, between the trenched and those planted by 
mere pitting, slitting, or sowing, — much more de- 
pending on proper draining, on young, thriving, 
small stiudy plants, of best variety, — on suiting the 
plant to the soil and climate, and on timely thin- 
ning. 

But even were a very superior ultimate progress 
of growth obtained by trenching, manming, and 
culture of timber, yet as capital and manure will 
probably be more advantageously employed in com- 
mon agriculture, which gives a comparatively quick 
retiun of both, w^e shall leave to Mr Withers and 
his coterie of illuminati the whole advantage of his 
discovery. Economic philosophy is the queen of 
om* Scottish plants ; she will not admit any new 
system of nurtiu-e for her subjects without the strict- 



218 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



est scrutiny of its utility as applied to her domains, 
- — she proceeds thus to weigh Mr Withers's prac- 
tice : — 

Extra Cost per Acre. 

Twenty loads of putrescent manure, at the average price at 
which thousands of tons are annually imported to the val- 
ley of the Tay from Englafid, 9s. per load, L, 9 0 0 
Carriage expenses of above, at 3s. per do. 3 0 0 

Twenty loads calcareous manure, including 
carriage (were marl not at hand, lime would 
cost thrice as much), . , . 4 0 0 

Trenching, . • . . 9 0 0 

Total first extra cost, , . L.25 0 0 

Accumulation by 28 years' interest, at 5 per 

cent, nearly, .... L.lOO 0 0 

Wotdd land under timber 2S years planted, 
with growth accelerated by Mr Withers's practice, 
in two-thirds of the available -g¥o«ftd- of Scotland, 
sell at more than L. 100 per English acre ? Sup- 
pose that the thinnings previous to the 28th year 
would cover the cost of planting, and subsequent 
cultivation and attention which is necessary, besides 



MR WITHERS. 



^19 



the cost of the trenchmg and mauimng (in many 
cases they would not), the entire value of the land 
would he lost. It may be said that the common 
rules of utility do not apply in this case, — that the 
landlords will not he moved to any other improve- 
ment than planting, and that otherwise their in- 
come would be dissipated entirely, without any por- 
tion being applied to reproductive uses. We grant 
all this ; but Scottish landlords have very little taste 
for the Withers' system, — to deface their beautiful 
wastes, by bm-ying all the fine turf and wildflowers 
under the red mortar (the common subsoil), or 
to scatter manure. Planting by pitting and slit- 
ting will prove far more attractive ; besides, the 
means are entirely awanting to carry on such expen- 
sive proceedings to the necessary extent, and the 
cultivation of one acre in this fashion would leave 
19 untouched, when the whole 20 might have been 
wooded, in many cases to equal advantage, by the 
money expended on one. We have known planting 
executed by contract for one year's interest of the 
above stated first extra expenditure, which we would 
match against planting raised by Mr Withers's pro- 
cess, in the same situation. There is also a very 
considerable proportion of Scotland very suitable for 



220 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



timber where the stony nature of the surface entire- 
ly precludes trenching. 

Mr Withers, who appears to have no general 
knowledge of soils and climates, would hold a diffe- 
rent language with regard to Scotland and Scots- 
men, if he saw the beautiful thriving plantations 
now rising in that country, planted by mere pitting 
and slitting, where, owing to the drought in early 
summer being less fierce than what occurs in the 
central, eastern, and southern counties of England, 
and to the herbage being less luxuriant, planting with- 
out trenching can always be depended upon. Mr 
Withers would also have been sensible had he had 
much practice in rural affairs, that twenty loads of 
putrid manure per acre at planting, although of very 
considerable advantage for two or three seasons to 
the rising trees, in promoting, along with hoeing and 
digging, an early start to luxuriance, would cause 
little or no lasting amelioration of the soil; That 
the vegetable mould naturally occupying the surface 
is generally by itself a much better defence against 
the summer's drought, than when incorporated with 
the subsoil, especially after cultivation ceases ; that 
lasting fertility of ground for timber, though some- 
times, is often not increased by admixture of soil 



MK WITHERS. 



221 



and subsoil ; and that, generally, the luxuriance of 
the tree must ultimately depend on the natural 
depth and quality of the ground itself. 

Mr Withers, with that precise knowledge of the 
subject, and clear conception of the nature of things, 
which generally accompanies a partial acquaintance 
with facts, makes a confident and rather imposing 
appearance as a wielder of language and a logician. 
From his assumed superiority, we especially wonder 
that he should possibly have envy of Scotsmen, which, 
from the tenor of his letter, we are constrained to 
believe. Need Caledonia remind her noble sister, 
England, of their consanguinity, — that they are sis- 
ters whom natm-e hath twimied together ? Is there 
another in all the earth, with quadruple the advan- 
tages of Scotland, who can rank with her in science 
and literatm*e, arts and arms ? And is England 
not proud of her poorer sister ? Or can they feel 
aught but mutual love ? 



Since writing the above, we have looked over some 
experiments by Messrs Barlow, Beaufoy, Couch, and 
others, on the strength of timber. These show so 
much discrepancy of result, as leads us to conclude. 



222 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



that experimenters have not attended sufficiently to 
the structure and nature of the timber, the position 
and quality of the different layers, &c. Take, for 
example, the stem of a tall tree, 100 years old : At 
the cross section, it is found to consist of a certain 
number of layers of matured timber, and of sap timber. 
These layers having been gradually formed^ the ex- 
ternal, after those more internal have partly dried, 
and the internal and matured wood being also filled 
up to more solid consistency than the external, the 
stem, on being barked, contracts in drying much 
more externally than internally. As soon as the 
surface has dried, the outer layers contracting lat- 
■4eriy> are not sufficient to surround the undried in- 
ternal layers, thence split in longitudinal rifts ; and 
as the drying proceeds inwards, the cracks deepen 
till they reach nearly to the heart — these rifts, when 
the timber is thoroughly dry, being generally wider 
in the sap timber than in the matm*ed, more than 
in the proportion of the size of the respective circles. 
This effect of drying is what every body is acquaint^ 
ed with. 

Besides lateral contraction, there is also a disposi- 
tion to contract longitudinally by diying, much 
greater in the external than internal layers. While 
the tree is undivided, this greater contraction of the 

3 



MR WITHERS. 



223 



exterior layers is prevented, by the adhesion to the 
drier more filled up central column (which probably 
had contracted a little dm'ing the formation of the 
exterior sap-wood layers), the contractile force of the 
exterior balancing equally around this central column. 
Should this balance be destroyed by the stem being 
cleft up the middle, the longitudinal contraction will 
immediately take place, and the two halves will 
bend outward, from the outside layers contracting 
more than the inside layers. We have seen an ash 
tree rend up the middle from the cross section above 
the bulb, nearly to the top, on being cut across in 
fj^lling, owing to the longitudinal contractile force 
of the exterior existing even before drying. 

Should the dried stem of a tree, of considerable 
length, be laid hollow, supported at each end, the 
outside layer being stretched almost to breaking by 
the longitudinal contraction being greatest in the 
outermost part, a very small weight, aided by a slight: 
jerk or concussion, may be sufficient to burst the out^ 
side layer on the lower side, the outside layers on the 
upper side not standing out as a support above, but 
combining their contractile force with gravity ta 
rend the lower. As the outer layer gives way, the 
strain is thrown concentrated upon the next outers 
most, which also gives way, and the beam is broken 



224 NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 

across in detail. In like manner, when the direct 
longitudinal strength is tested, the external circles be- 
ing in greater tension than the internal, the tightest 
parts of the log will give way in succession, like a 
rope T^ith strands of different degrees of tightness ; 
yet the lateral adliesion of the layers will have con- 
siderable effect in strengthening the mass. 

The above explains the fallacy of estimating the 
longitudinal strength of a thick piece of timber from 
experiments vdth. small shreds ; it likemse explains 
how a large unbuilt mast is so easily sprung ; where- 
fore a beam round as grown will be rendered stronger 
as a beam by being formed into a hollow cyHnder, 
by boring out the central part ; and also how a 
square log will be strengthened as a beam, by cleav- 
ing it up the middle, and placing the two pieces on 
edge, with their outside or backs together. In the 
latter case, the middle, by being tm*ned outside, and 
exposed to the air, will contract more than what it 
would do shut up and covered by the exterior wood, 
especially if resinous pine timber, which continues 
to contract for many years, owing to the resin, when 
exposed to the au*, gradually drying or undergoing 
some change, by which it is diminished in size, and 
rendered similar to amber» 



MR WITHERS. 



225 



Consideration of the difference of tension of the 
concentric layers, from the difference of disposition 
to contract hy drying, modified hy the diflPerence of 
position in which these layers may stand, when sup- 
porting weights and hearing strain, with the various 
quahties of timber of the same kind of tree, from 
variety, age, soil, climate, or from being taken from 
near the outside or heart, or butt or top, will, we 
think, account for the contrariety of results which 
unphilosophical experiments have afforded. 



226 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



VI. — Stewart^s Planter's Guide, and Sir Walter 
Scott's Critique. 

We have noticed tliat a sensation has been pro- 
duced in a certain quarter, particularly among per- 
sons of a certain age, by a publication of Sir Henry 
Steuart of AUanton, on removing large trees, eked 
out by a very clever article in the London Quarter- 
ly, on Landscape Gardening, ascribed to Sir Walter 
Scott. 

It may seem unnecessary to direct the attention of 
the public again either to this volume or its subjectj, 
both of which have already engaged the public atten- 
tion to a degree greatly beyond their value and im- 
portance; but Sir Henry, with all his foppery and pa- 
rade of decorating parks, approaches^ and lawns, and 
all that sort of chateau millinery, has now and then 
risen above his subject^ and not only given us seve- 
ral hints useful in rm*al economy, but has also pre^ 
tensions to have brought out some fects hitherto but 
imperfectly known, and to have traced them to ge- 
neral principles. 



STEUART'S planter's GUIDE. 2^7 



It is curious to remark of how much greater im- 
portance the elder part of society — those upon whom 
wealth has at length devolved, are generally held. 
Any device, however trifling, which can in any way 
divert the fancy, pamper the lingering senseSj or 
patch up the body of our second childhood, is infinite- 
ly more useful to the discoverer, and meets with high- 
er patronage and more eclat, than what is of a thou- 
sand times more consequence to the young. Now, if 
this were the fruit of filial love, all would be very well 
— we would idolize the picture: but when we see these 
discoveries only patronized by the old themselves, in 
the merest egotism, we blush for oiu* patriarchs, and 
wonder if time and suffering will be spent as unpro- 
fitably upon ourselves. 

We wonder much what fascination can exist to 
a mind of so much ability and cultm-e as that 
of Sir Henry Steuart, in decorating a few dull un- 
profitable acres, — causing a few bushes and bush- 
like trees to change place from one side of a dull 
green to the other ! — laying digested plans of action, 
embracing a great number of years, to accomplish 
this very important feat, which most probably the 
next heir will make the business of his life to un- 
do, by turning them back to their old quarters, if 
he does not, with more wisdom, grub them out alto- 

p 2! 



228 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



getlier as cumber ers of tlie soil ! For ourselves, we 
would rather haa with the silly sheep, and nibble 
the turf, than pass our time in acting over this most 
pitiful trifling, or in publishing a memorial of our 
shame. We know not how others are affected, 
but there is no other place on earth where we ha;ve 
felt such oppression and weariness, as in the exten- 
sive smoothed park and lawns around the coimtry 
seat. We sicken under the uniformity of the heavy- 
looking round-headed trees, — the dulness of the flat 
fat pastm-e, undecorated by a single weed,— the quiet 
stupid physiognomy of the cattle, — the officiousness 
of the sleek orderly menial. I t may be we are very 
destitute of taste in this ; here every thing is expe- 
riencing satiety of sensual enjoyment, is full to re- 
pletion ; every thing has been sedulously arranged 
to please, and we ought certainly to admire; but 
we have no sympathy with such a scene. 

The solitariness, the absence of men and of hu- 
man interest, is not compensated by any of the wild 
charms of nature. There is small room here for the 
discovery of the habitat and native character of 
plants, no chance of meeting mth a rare species, 
every thing is modelled to art. The land-bailiff is 
an adept. With his dirty composts and top-dress- 
ings, he smothers the /o^ and the daisy ; the scythe 



steuakt's planter's guide. 229 

sweeps down every idle weed, every wild flower which 
escapes his large-mouthed oxen. The live smooth 
bark of the lush fast-growing trees, affords no foot- 
ing for the various and beautiful tribes of mosses and 
hchens. The fog-bee has lost its dwelling, the humble- 
bee its fiow^ers, and they have flown away. Scarce 
an insect remains, except the swollen earth-worm, 
the obscene beetle, and the bloated toad, crawling 
among the rank grass. There is a heavy dankness 
in the air itself The nervous fluid stagnates under 
it, — the muscles relax into lassitude, — ^inexpressible 
depression sinks upon the heart. 

It is impossible to describe the relief we feel when 
we emerge again into varied nature beyond the ring- 
fence, — we have the hill and the furze, the wild- 
violet and the thyme, and all the sweet diversity of 
oiu subalpine flora. We have the thatched, patched 
hut, the fine ragged children, the blooming cottage- 
girl, — we have the corn-field, where weeds of every 
dye, the beautiful centaur ea and scabiosa, the ele~ 
gant fumaria, the gaudy cock-rose, and the splendid 
chrysanthemum, are contending for existence with 
the cerealeae. Look at the broken mound, with its 
old picturesque trees and tangled bushes ; there is 
the ancient root where the throstle had its nestlings, 
which are now at large on the leafy boughs, and are 



2!30 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



tuning their yet unformed notes to melody. Now 
eveiy twig has raised its new column of foliage to 
the sun ; and branch, and root, and stone, embel- 
lished all over in the richest variety of cryptogamic 
beauty, swarm of insect life. This smooth path has 
been paved by the lightsome foot ; how superior to 
the gravel-walk on which the labom'er has grudged 
his useless toil ! Even the cart-ruts possess an inte- 
rest, which useful labour has worn. After the smooth 
monotony of the park ; the turf-dykes, the fluting 
of the ridges, the different kinds of crops, are most 
agreeable diversity. The dunghil, and chanticleer 
among his dames, the toiled horse, the lean milch- 
cow, and the superhumanly- sagacious-looking shep- 
herd- coUey, — every thing we behold commands a 
sympathy, draws forth a wish of benevolence. 

As Sir Walter Scott's Critique came under our 
notice prior to Sir Henry's Guide, we shall proceed 
in the same order. 

In the first half of this article, Sir Walter gives 
the history, and describes the varied character, of 
Landscape Gardening, in a very imaginative and fe- 
licitous manner, which, as depending on genius and 
literature alone, was to be expected ; but, in the lat- 
ter part of the essay, when he comes to treat of ac- 



steuart's planter's guide. ^31 



tion and facts, and Sir Henry's discoveries, the de- 
ficiency in practical knowledge and judgment, only 
forms a contrast to the fancy, elegance, and erudition 
of what goes before. 

Sir Walter, apparently mot quite unconscious of 
the ridicule attaching to the subject, — to this mighty 
scientific and historic parade in teaching country 
gentlemen to amuse themselves by transferring gro\vn 
trees as they list, from one place to another, without 
entirely destroying the life of the transported subject, 
— makes a curious effort to sustain its consequence, 
by pointing out the immense advantages to a dis- 
trict by the squire's residing in it ; insinuating, that 
every thing which may amuse him at home, and thus 
induce him to stay, although of itself childish or in- 
:femous, becomes of the highest importance, being 
ennobled by the end. The following courtly quo- 
tation is from Sir Walter's proemial observ ations : 
" A celebrated politician used to say, he would wil- 
lingly bring in a bill to make poaching felony, ano- 
ther to encourage the breed of foxes, and a third to 
revive the decayed amusements of cock-fighting and 
bull-baiting ; that he would make, in short, any sa- 
crifice to the humom's and prejudices of the country 
gentlemen, in their most extravagant form, provide 
ing only he could prevail on them to dwell in their 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



own houses, be the patrons of their own tenantry, 
and the fathers of their own children." Sir Walter 
does not attempt to describe or analyze the " hu- 
mours and prejudices" necessary to render the above 
lures efficacious. Does he infer that such disho- 
nourable power over their fellow men, or that the 
opportunity of indulging in such low despicable 
practices, would induce the country gentlemen to so- 
journ in their father-land ? It is impossible to say 
any thing more insultingly cutting. But we are far 
from imputing to Sir Walter any intentional of- 
fence. Yet we cannot help being angry with 
the freakish favouritism of Fortune, although we 
are sensible it belongs instinctively to the female 
character, often a necessary and very interesting trait; 
how she dooms one man from his childhood to toil 
incessantly for a bare subsistence ; how she lavishes 
her favours upon another, and surrounds him from 
the cradle with every delight ; the mind enlightened, 
the taste cultivated, the body trained to the most 
graceful exercises, even whose very amusements 
are considered of so great importance as to throw a 
high interest upon an art of no earthly utility, but, 
on the contrary, where the labour of many workmen 
is thrown uselessly away. We are aware that Sir 
Walter and his Senator only regard these pastimes 



STEUART'S planter's GUIDE. 233 

of the country gentlemen, thus highly, through a 
reflected interest, the latter in a political view ; and 
the Baronet, from the known warm henevolence of 
his heart (a feeling generally associated with genius), 
towards his poor countrymen, to whom he supposes, 
in the event of the country gentlemen being by any 
means induced to stay at home, a part of the great 
land revenue so unjustly vn-ung from the poor man's 
labour would again devolve. 

It is amusing to observe with what a flow of ima- 
gination Su* Walter shews off his friend's inventions 
— inventions which have been practised with less or 
more success, in a manner very similar, by almost 
every planter of note, since the time of Nero. We 
quote again : " The existence of the wonders, — so 
we may call them, — which Sir Henry Steuart has 
effected, being thus supported by the unexception- 
able evidence of competent judges (a deputation 
hy the Highland Society), what lover of natural 
beauty can fail to be interested in his own detailed 
account of the mode by which he has been able to 
make vdngs for time ?" — " But although we have 
found the system to be at once original, effectual, 
and attended with moderate expense, we are not 
sanguine enough to hope that it will at once find 



2134 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



general introduction. The application of steam and 
gas to the important functions which they at pre- 
sent perform, was slowly and reluctantly adopted, 
after they had been opposed for many years by the 
prejudices of the public, — earlier or later this beau- 
tiful and rational system will be brought into gene- 
ral action, when it will do more to advance the pic- 
turesque beauty of the country in five years, than 
the slow methods hitherto adopted will in fifty. It 
is now found we possess the art of changing the face 
of nature like the scenes in a theatre, and that we 
can convert, almost instantaneously, a desert to an 
Eden." 

Now, this is admirable ! Even were it granted, 
that no planter before Sir Henry Steuart's time, or 
without his instructions, had ever removed a tree of 
considerable size successfully (though we believe he 
has nearly as much the merit of discovery in this 
as in the other curious invention ascribed to him by 
Sir Walter, " making wings for time," which must 
certainly have been performed by Sir Henry a long 
while ago, as we remember time flying very well 
when we were a truant boy) ; yet, nevertheless, Sir 
Walter, now that his paroxysm of admiration has 
had time to moderate, will surely help us to laugh 

3 



steuakt's planter's guide. 



235 



at the absurdity of his hyperboHc figures of compari- 
son, with steam, and gas, and scenic transformation, 
which throw such ridicule upon his excellent friend. 

We beheve that Sir Henry Steuart has been as 
successftd as many others of his countrymen in trans- 
planting grown trees. We have had some little 
practice ourselves in this art, but which, had it not 
been for Sir Henry's discoveries^ we should not have 
thought of obtruding on the notice of the public. 
The house we occupied was covered to the south and 
west by part of an old orchard of apple and pear 
trees, which excluded the drying south-western 
breeze, so necessary in a low damp situation. We 
transplanted nearly an acre of these, certainly with 
more success and economy than could have been ef- 
fected by Sir Henry's practice, the soil being so te- 
nacious, that it was impossible to remove the earth 
from the roots without fracturing all the smaller 
fibres. The soil, an adhesive brown Carse clay, con- 
tained a good deal of vegetable matter, to the depth 
of about 15 inches, when the subsoil, a close hard 
yellow clay commenced, into which very few of the 
roots penetrated. This ground had been long under 
grass, and the upper soil was much bound together 
by the grass and tree roots. Under these circum- 
stances we adopted the following plan :■ — 



2!36 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



We first had a stout sledge made, about four feet 
square, of lumber pieces of wood, the side pieces 
about five feet long, on which it slid, had a small 
bend, and extended nearly a foot behind the cross 
bottom sheaths, which were sparred over with three 
narrow boards. The stout chain of a roller was af- 
fixed to this sledge, when at use, to drag it by. In 
the autumn we prepared the site where we intended 
placing each tree, by throwing out the earth on two 
sides about a foot deep, and eight feet square, and 
then dug over the bottom of this shallow pit one 
spit deep, and sloped the two other sides, to which 
the earth had not been thrown, so that horses could 
walk across it ; we then took the opportunity of a 
slight shower, when the ground was slippery above 
and hard below, so that the sledge could easily be 
di'agged, and set the labom-ers to work to dig a nar- 
row trench, two feet deep, and about three feet dis- 
tant from the stem (more or less according to the 
size of the tree), around those trees we intended to 
remove, paying no regard to the roots, but cutting 
them right down where they interfered with the 
trench, and where the roots in the central part (the 
part surrounded by the trench) were not immediate- 
ly at the surface, paring off the turf till the roots 
appeared. This being done, we caused them to un- 



steuart's planter's guide. 237 

der-dig and scrape out the clay all round, nearly a 
foot inward below the roots, and then to introduce two 
large ladders at one side as levers to upset the tree, 
the strong end of the ladders being put into the 
trench, and as far underneath the roots as to catch 
hold firmly, the outer side of the trench being the ful- 
crum on which they rested to obtain a purchase, the 
light end sloping upward about 14 feet high. Two 
men were then employed upon each ladder ; one of 
them pulled down by a rope attached to the top, 
while the other guided the ladder, and rocked it a 
little up and down ; and, at the same time, several 
men hung upon the opposite side of the tree, ei- 
ther by a rope or the branches, till their united force 
upset the tree with a large cake of clay bound toge- 
ther by the roots, five or six feet square, and per- 
haps fifteen inches thick, standing up like a wall, 
similar to what occurs when spruce or Scots fir are 
upset by high mnds, in shallow wet-bottomed soil. 
We then removed the ladders, sloped the outer side 
of the trench where they had rested, and pared away 
the clay from the upset root, till we thought four 
horses could drag it, one or two men in the mean 
time sitting in the top to prevent the tree righting. 
After this we introduced the sledge, pushing it as 
far back as possible ; if necessary, cutting holes to 



238 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



admit the ends of the side-pieces of the sledge through 
the lower edge of the upset root ; and if the tree 
were large, placing several wet slippery boards under 
the sides of the sledge^ that it might be more easily 
drawn up the acchvity of the hole. The men hang- 
ing or sitting on the top, then let go their hold, and 
the tree generally righted itself, standing fail' upon 
the sledge as it grew ; if it did not do this of itself, 
they assisted its rising by lifting at the top. The 
root was then secured firmly upon the sledge with 
ropes, and the horses were attached, who, by pidling 
stoutly, dragged the sledge with its load out of the hole 
up the slope, and away to the prepared new situation 
one man walking at each side, having hold of a rope 
attached to the top of the tree to guide and steady 
it when passing a furrow or other inequahty of the 
road. The horses were led across the new site,, and 
stopped when the sledge and tree were in the pit, 
about a foot past the berth ; the ropes fixing the stool 
on the sledge were then untied, and, by pulHng 
backward upon the ropes fixed to the top, the tree 
was upset again upon its side from off the sledge, 
and the sledge dragged forward. The tree was then 
allowed or assisted to right itself again in its proper 
berth, and friable earth packed well around and scat- 
tered over the stool, and a little litter spread over 



STEUART'S planter's GUIDE. 



239 



all. The ground was then dramed and trenched, 
excepting the part around the tree, which had been 
stirred in the planting. If thought necessary, a 
prop or two were placed to steady the tree during the 
winter, as it might otherwise work a little back and 
forward with the wind while the clay was moist and 
soft. After the earth had dried in the spring, the 
props were removed. 

Wheii we look back on the description of this prac- 
tice, it seems tedious ; but much of the work is done 
sooner than described. Were it of sufficient import- 
ance, trees might be grown in something like lazy 
beds, with water always standing in the dividing 
trenches, about fifteen inches lower than the surface, 
which would procure roots very manageable by this 
practice. We once had a small nursery of oaks so 
situated, and the trees which were removed, when of 
considerable size, had roots uncommonly matted and 
fibrous, and which carried with them a large mass of 
soil. These succeeded very well when transplanted, 
but we should consider that plants from a drier poorer 
soil, with roots equally fibrous, would be preferable, 
could they be extracted with as much adhering earth, 
which, however, could not be accomplished without 
preparation and considerable labour. Were it the only 
consideration to procure plants which would best 



240 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



support the transplanting when of considerable size, 
this, or the practice of cutting the roots, and en- 
couraging the rooting by manuring and thickening 
the earth around the stool, would merit attention ; 
but as we have already stated, we consider plants 
with these matted roots not so likely to grow to 
large timber as those with several unchecked large 
diverging root-leaders. 

Besides the above mentioned part of orchard, we 
have, by this practice, removed successfully (in some 
cases so much so as that no trace of the removal ap- 
peared), a considerable number of trees, where they 
were growing too close, and think it simpler, and much 
superior to Sir Henry's, wherever the stool of the tree 
can be turned up with a large cake of earth, as in cases 
where the greater part of the roots run out horizontally 
near the surface, which always occurs in flat ground, 
when the subsoil is soaking with moisture the great- 
er part of the season. Whatever risk there may be 
of the tree not growing when it has been subjected 
to all Sir Henry's formal and tedious process, assist- 
ed by costly machinery, there is none here, provided 
it is placed in drained trenched ground, as a con- 
siderable number of the small fibres on which the 
suction of moisture for supply of the leaves depends, 
remain untouched, with this earth around them, and 



STEtJAilT'S planter's GUIDE. 241 



strike out immediately in the new moist soft soil ; 
and there is no laceration of the main roots, which, 
hy Sir Henry's plan, cannot altogether be avoided, 
this laceration being much more pernicious, and 
likely to occasion putrescency, than simple cross sec- 
tion 

By the above sledging practice, we have success- 
fidly removed fruit trees 2i feet in circumference, at 
two feet from the ground, and have had some 20 
feet high, make a new addition to their height of six 
inches the first summer, where no shortening of the 
top had taken place. We have also plucked fair 
loads of fruit, both first and second season, as large 

* We think Sir Henry would find some of the failures of which 
he owns he cannot well ascertain the cause, but occurring espe- 
cially in beech and oak, to be owing to a number of the lower 
roots, which are by far the tenderest, being bruised by the weight 
of the tree itself, when he turns it repeatedly over from the one 
side to the other, in order, by throwing in earth beneath it, to 
raise the root on a level with the surface of the field, the whole 
weight of the incumbent mass resting upon these soft roots. The 
oak, and still more the beech, are exceedingly susceptible to in- 
jury from cutting or bruises, and die far inward from the lacera- 
tion. The wounded lower roots, especially when any vacuity is 
left not filled close in with earth, where mouldiness might gene- 
rate in a dry situation, or when soaking in moisture for a part of 
the season, will become corrupted; the putrefaction thence gradu- 
ally extending upward into the bulb, will contaminate the whole, 
and the second or third year after planting, the tree will be dead. 

Q 



242 NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 

and well matured as any of the same kind produced 
by trees which had not been touched ; but it is ge- 
nerally prudent not to allow them to fruit the first 
two seasons. As an experiment, we cut most of the 
branches from the top of two of the trees— that is, 
headed them down, but found these did not grow so 
well as those which were only slightly pruned, or 
not pruned at all. 

Pruning at planting should take place in cases 
where there are long annual shoots of the preceding 
season, or much close spray as in old fruiting-trees ; 
the former should be cut -iftte^five or six buds in 
length, and the latter ought to be thinned, to an ex- 
tent, which the kind of tree, the largeness and safe 
state of the root, soil, exposure, and climate, must 
determine : we request our readers to pay attention 
to this. Pruning the long annual shoots, prevents a 
too early formation of leaves, which often occurs in 
moist cold soil, and which wither before the roots 
begin to strike. 

In some cases, where we found the earth too fri- 
able, and not sufficiently bound together by the 
roots, to rise up in a cake, we first prepared the stool 
for upsetting, and waited for hard frost * to bind 

* We understand freezing the earth around the bulb is an old 
practice. 



steuart's planter's guide. M3 

the earth and roots into a firm body like a large 
millstone, poming some water upon it the evening 
previous to the commencement of the frost, that it 
might become firmer ; we then proceeded with our 
sledging during the frost if the road was smooth ; 
and, if rough, we covered over the frozen root with 
straw to retain the frost ; and the first day of fresh, 
when the ground was soft and slippery above, and 
hard underneath, we proceeded with our work, taking- 
care not to cover up the root with earth till it had 
thawed. We have found (contrary to general opi- 
nion), that no injury is sustained by exposure of the 
roots of various kinds of trees to frost, or as great 
cold as generally occm*s at the surface of the ground 
in this climate. We have succeeded equally well with 
pear-trees, which had lain out on the exposed bare 
crown of a ridge for two months of winter, without 
the smallest quantity of earth adhering to the roots, 
or protection of any kind, as with those immediately 
from the ground where they grew. We have even 
thought that a certain exposure of the roots to cold 
increased their susceptibility to be stimulated to 
strike quicker by the warmth of the ground in 
spring, and thus the root suction coming to act 
sooner than it usually does in transplanted trees 
without balls, and nearer the time of the expansion 

Q 2! 



244 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



of the leaves ; the check occasioned by the upper 
vegetation being too forward for the lower, was not 
so great. In some cases a slight degree of wither- 
ing also appeared to have a good effect in deterring 
the development of the buds till the earth acquired 
a warmth sufficient for the root striking. 

We succeeded to om* wish with those we transplant- 
ed by sledging, excepting a few which were placed 
among young trees obtained from a sale nm'sery. 
These young plants brought along with them a 
number of the eggs of the common green caterpillar. 
These eggs produced larvae upon the young trees the 
following spring ; and these larvae going down into the 
earth, produced a small grey silvery moth in July, 
The moths, from the tallest plants being most op- 
posed to them in their flight, or from being guided 
by common parasitical instinct to choose the largest 
subjects, deposited their eggs upon the removed old 
trees in preference to those on which they had been 
brought from the nursery, — a preference which did 
not seem to arise from any sickliness of the old, as 
they were fully as vigorous the first summer after 
transplanting as the young. These imported ver- 
min prospering under the propitious dry warm sum- 
mer of 1826, rendered several of the old trees as 
bare of foliage the second and third June after re- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



245 



moval as they were in December ; they have now, 
however, recovered their vigour, shaken off their 
parasites, and have produced good loads of fruit. 

We may be thought fastidious in our tastes, and 
extravagant in om* wishes, but we desire and ex- 
pect more of om' country gentlemen than to be mere 
idlers, or worse than idlers, — practisers of the Allan- 
ton system. When they tm*n their attention to fo- 
restry, we would have them to sow, or to plant from 
the nursery, and not to disturb and torture the fine 
growing timber which their fathers had located, and 
which generally suffers irreparable injury from re- 
moval, — a system to which Sir Henry Steuart is so 
absurdly attached, as to recommend its practice, al- 
though only to turn the lee side of the tree round 
to the wind in the same spot. Nor have we much 
sympathy with Sir Walter Scott's taste for home- 
keeping squires, — those Shallows and Slenders with 
whom our great dramatist has made himself so mer- 
ry. We would have our landed gentlemen to know 
that they are the countrymen, — many of them, per- 
haps, of the blood of the Raleighs, the Drakes, and 
the Ansons. Let them, like our Wellington, our 
Nelson, our Cochrane, Wilson, Miller, and many 
others, continue to set before the world some little 
assurance of British manhood. Let them, like our 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



no less honourable Penns, and Baltimore, and Sel- 
kirk, lay foundations of future empires. We would 
have our young men of fortune go abroad into 
the world as soon as their scholastic education is 
completed, — not to spend a few idle years in Paris, 
Rome, or other of the common enervating haunts, 
— they might as well remain in mother's drawing- 
room or father's stable ; but to view man and nature 
under every appearance. Let them acquire horse- 
manship on the Pampas of La Plata ; hunt the lion 
and the elephant, and other game, at the Cape, and 
study the botany and natm-al history of these proli- 
fic wilds. Let their ideas shoot while they recline 
under the lone magnificence of the primeval forest, 
while they gallop over the unappropriated desert, 
free as the Bedouin, or lie down composedly to sleep, 
serenaded by the hyena and jackal's howl, and 
lion's roar. Let them learn geology and mineralogy 
on the Andes and Himalaya, and around every shore 
where the strata are denuded. Let them wind about 
among those abrupt rocks and craggy precipices, 
where they may contemplate the sea-bird's house- 
hold economy — the wild herbs of the cliff— the vege- 
tation and shells and monsters of the ocean — the 
solitary white sail from distant land — the vestiges 
of olden time, the exuviae of former worlds, in the 



steuart's planter's guide. 247 



exposed strata — the abrasion of the rocky land by 
the continued battering of the numberless pebbles 
moved backward and forward by the heaving of the 
ceaseless wave. Let them study the currents, and 
winds, and meteorology on the ocean, and enjoy the 
sublime feeling of riding over it in its wildest mood. 
Let them join the ranks of freedom in any quarter 
of the world where freedom is opposed to tyranny. 
Let them head the savage horde, and introduce the 
morality and arts of Britain among the ignorant 
barbarian ; or lead out colonies of our starved ope- 
ratives to new lands of high agricultural capability, 
where for centmies no population-preventive checks 
w^ould be necessary. No other employment of life 
could be so abounding in heart-stirring emotion, as 
leading out the enthusiastic emigrants, with their 
huddled groups of children, whom you know you 
have rescued from the irksome unhealthy toil and 
wretchedness of the city manufactory ; no occu- 
pation could be more delightful than cherishing the 
new-born settlement during the privations and hard- 
ships of infancy ; in procuring a supply of food, 
when through mistakes, owing to ignorance of the 
climate and other circumstances, success had not at- 
tended their industry ; and in leading them on to an 
effective self government. One would gladly leave 



248 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



this old world, whose sm-face is disfigui-ed all OTer 
by man's patched drilled deformities, and pass on to 
a new one, where inviolated nature has produced 
and reared her own children after her own fashion, 
w^here every plant occupies its own place and blos- 
soms in its own time. This order must afford in- 
tense delight to the natm'alist, independent of the 
novelty of every thing, from the constellation in the 
sky to the lichen on the stone. In such a place, 
one should feel remorse to suffer the hatchet to work, 
or the ploughshare to enter in. 

We fear these amusements (to which indeed, the 
British seem more disposed than any other people), 
w^ould spoil all relish for the Allanton system, and 
that om* travellers, on their return, would suffer the 
thriving trees planted by their fathers to remain at 
rest, and rather incline to introduce into the park 
some of their hardy foreign favourites — the iron-wood 
evergreens of Patagonia, the valuable pines and other 
trees of New^ Zealand and Eastern Asia. We be- 
lieve, also, that an acquaintance with the real world, 
obtained in this way, would be much better fitted, 
than the following Sir Walter's recommendation, to 
render om* gentlemen in after life able and ready to 
direct at the nation's councils, and to improve their 
estates, and the condition of their dependents. Per-. 



steuart's planter's guide. 249 

haps they would then disdain to hang on at St Ste- 
phen's, the contemptible retainers (all but in livery) 
of some intriguing member of the cabinet, like 
hungry jackals (call-jack), for the pickings their 
master might leave them. 

Having now looked at the general bearing of our 
subject, we shall approach it a little closer, to ex- 
amine the facts, inductions, and minutiae of the 
practice. 

When we first heard of Sir Henry Steuart's ce- 
lebrated discoveries and new system of moving about 
large live trees, and read Sir Walter Scott's declara- 
tion, that Birnam wood might now in reality come 
down living to Dunsinane, we were disposed to hold 
Sir Henry a magician, and were not a little alarmed 
lest grown up trees might indeed acquire, under his 
art, the locomotive power, and gallop about, to the 
no small terror and danger of his Majesty's subjects; 
but, on closer examination, we find all Sir Henry's 
art resolve itself into transferring them from one 
hole into another, by the labour of real men and 
horses, without injuring the trees to such a degree 
as preclude hope of recovery under proper subse- 
quent attention. His mode of performing this may 
be stated shortly as follows : — 

1st, Procure sturdy subjects, not drawn up tall 



250 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



and delicate in close plantations, but with short stem 
balanced all round with numerous compact branches, 
and well and regularly rooted, such as occm- in open 
situation on level surface. If you have not trees 
possessing these pi^erequisites ready at hand Go 
prepare them. Thin out your young woods to double 
and triple distance, according as you intend to trans- 
fer them to sheltered or exposed situations ; cut the 
roots of these trees, and trench around them at a 
few feet distant from the bulb, or lay down rich com- 
post mould around them, to encourage exuberance 
of rooting, and in eight or ten years you will have 
fit subjects for removal ! 

2d, Prepare the site a year previous, by trenching 
and manuring with compost, carefully mixing and 
blending the v/hole (the upper and lower earth of 
the soil and compost), and adding moidd when the 
soil is shallow ; attending to thicken and mix clay 
soil with sandy mould, and sand soil wi\h clayey 
mould, also guarding against lodgment of Vv^ater. 
Recent farm -yard dung, peat-moss, and quick-lime, 
when well com.pounded together, make an excellent 
compost nianm-e. 

Sd, Commence extricating your trees by opening 
a deep trench at the extremities of the roots, mider- 
mining a little inward, and gradually severing the 



steuart's planter's guide. 251 



earth from the rootlets, by stirring, scraping, and shak- 
ing mth a very light pick, at the same time throw- 
ing the separated earth out of the hole, and work- 
ing inward with the shovel underneath the bared 
rootlets, till the tree is so far loosened as to be up- 
set by pulling on a rope fixed near the top, the root- 
lets, as extricated, being bundled up so as to be as 
much out of the way of injuiy as possible. Now, 
throw some earth into the hole ; re-elevate the tree 
upon this earth, and upset it in the contrary direc- 
tion ; continue to throw in earth, elevate and upset 
in the contrary direction, till the bottom of the root 
be nearly on a level vnth the surface of the ground. 
Procm'e a large two wheeled wood- drag, and wheel 
it backward close to the standing tree. Elevate 
the pole of this drag, and tie it firmly aloft to the 
stoutest and most convenient part of the top. Make 
the body of the tree near the root fast to the axle, 
or to a beam raised a little above the axle, a pad 
intervening between the axle or beam and body of 
the tree, to prevent injury to the bark ; then by 
pulling down upon the top of the pole, upset the 
tree upon the drag, balancing as near as possible 
upon the axle. All being now in readiness, attach 
yom* horses to the reverse end of the drag, where 
the root is swung, cind have your plant pulled back- 



2152! 



NOTICES OF AUTHOKS. 



ward to its new berth, and deposit it carefully there, 
without any top-pruning, having its heaviest branches 
towards the west, that it may the better withstand 
our prevailing winds, taking great care to divide 
and comb out all the rootlets, and to pack in the 
fine prepared mould, so as to separate them nearly 
in the order they formerly occupied. Then sad down 
the whole by beating or watering, and mulch over 
all to exclude the drought. 

4th, Water every two or three days in dry wea- 
ther, during the early part of the first summer, and 
continue for several years to work over the surface of 
the ground by repeated hoeing or otherwise, till the 
tree has forgotten her rough treatment, and has be- 
come reconciled to her new quarters. 

Now, this is Sir Henry's practice. What is there 
here meriting the name of discovery ? All the 
world knew long ago, that trees drawn up tall and de- 
licate, in sheltered situations, were unfit for an open 
exposure, especially when of considerable size. We 
have ourselves dug trenches round trees, and picked 
the earth from the rootlets with pointed instruments, 
preserving as far as possible every fibre entire. We 
have often collected fine mould and composts upon 
the ground previous to planting, and trenched 
over the soil ; we have carefully arranged the root- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



lets, and packed in our prepared mould ; we have 
noticed that mutilating the top of certain kinds of 
trees was very pernicious, particularly of the heech 
and the oak ; we have invariably turned round the 
heaviest branches to the west ; we have mulched 
and watered the first summer, and have hoed around 
the plants for years afterwards ; conveyance by a 
two-wheeled timber-drag has been long in use (we 
have employed the axle and wheels of a common 
cart) ; many, before Sir Henry, have prepared the 
roots by previous cutting ; what planter of experi- 
ence is ignorant of all this ? We grant Sir Henry 
has done all this well ; much of it must have oc- 
curred to himself, as it has done to us, as it will do 
to any person of ordinary acuteness and observation, 
but does this merit the name of discovery, or compa- 
rison with steam and gas ? 

We shall now give some little attention to a sub- 
ject on which we consider Sir Henry's claim to the 
rank of philosophic discoverer solely rests, and which 
he introduces to our notice certainly with sufficient 
prefatory flourish, under the designation of his new 
principle," " his rational theory," which he predicts 
will raise transplanting of trees of considerable size 
to the rank of a useful art, it being thus founded on 
fixed principles. In order to bring the matter fairly 



254 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



before the mind of our readers, we are under the ne- 
cessity of having recourse to a long quotation. We 
fear our readers will find Sir Henry's metaphysics 
not very intelligible ; but this may well be forgiven, 
we are all too guilty of plunging about when we get 
into deep water, and some of us have not always sense 
enough to swim mth the stream. 

We here introduce a quotation of our author : 
" But while every organic creation tends to full de- 
velopment, that is, to absolute energy, or perfect life, 
still we find, that the organs of which it is compos- 
ed are each reciprocally dependent on every other, 
for the possibility and degree of their peculiar action. 
At the same time, as these internal conditions of ani- 
mated existence are severally dependent on certain 
external conditions, which, again, are not always fully 
and equally supplied ; so it follows, that the life of 
every organized being is determined in its amount, 
and in the direction of its development, by the out- 
ward circumstances of its individual situation. For 
this reason, we see that every animal, and every plant, 
is dependent for its existence, and also for its perfect 
existence, on conditions both internal and externaL 
" From this reasoning it may be conceived, how 
the several parts of the living whole reciprocally act 
and react. They are, in fact, cause and effect mu- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



255 



tually ; and no one can precede another, either m 
the order of natiu'e, or of thne. Thus, hi an ani- 
mal, the digestive, and the ahsorhent, the sanguin- 
eous, the respiratory, and the nervous systems are at 
once relative and correlative. In like manner, in a 
plant, the same reciprocal proportion is found to hold 
between the roots and the stem, the branches and 
the leaves : Each modifies and determines the ex- 
istence of all the others, and is equally affected by 
all in its tmii. And as their several parts, by 
means of their union, constitute the organic whole ; 
and as their functions, by the same means, realize 
the complem.ent of life, which the plant or animal 
exhibits ; it is evident, that every living individual 
is a necessary system, in which no one part can be 
affected, without affecting the other parts, and 
throughout which there reigns an intimate sympa- 
thy, and a complete harmony of perfection and im- 
perfection. 

" Further ; The external conditions of this inter- 
nal development of plants and animals^ are Food, 
Air, and Heat ; while Light seems to be a peculiar 
condition, indispensably necessary to plants. Where 
any one of these conditions is not supplied, the ex- 
istence of life, whether animal or vegetable, becomes 
impossible ; where it is insufficiently supplied, life is 



256 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



proportionally enfeebled or repressed. But, to limit 
our consideration to the vegetable kingdom, it may 
be observed, that where a loose and deep soil affords 
an abundant supply of food, where a genial climate 
diffuses warmth in an adequate degree, and where a 
favourable exposure allows a competent access of 
light (for air, being fully and universally given, may 
be thrown out of the case) ; in these circumstances, 
a plant, if not mechanically injured, will vigorously 
exercise its functions, and attain the full develop- 
ment of its parts, thus realizing the absolute com- 
plement of life, to which it naturally tends. In the 
same way, when these conditions are stinted, the 
luxuriance of the plant is checked, in the ratio of 
that restraint, and the deficiency of the supply. 
Where any one of the external conditions is partially 
or inadequately supplied, the plant appears to make 
special, and even forced efforts to secure as much of 
the beneficial influence as it can, and to accommodate 
itself to the exigency of its situation. Thus, where 
light is admitted only from a single point, a plant 
concentrates all its powers, in stretching towards the 
direction of the light. Where light is shed all a- 
round, the plant throws out its branches on every 
side. In conformity with this principle, we find, 
that, in the interior of a wood, where the Trees mu- 

4 



steuart's planter's guide. 257 

tually impede the lateral admission of light, the ten- 
dency of each is upwards ; and the consequence of 
this tendency is, that the plant is thereby not de- 
veloped in its natural and perfect proportions, but is 
elongated, or drawn up to an undue height. It dis- 
plays its ramification chiefly near the top ; while the 
imperfection of its life is manifested in the whole 
character of its vegetation. In open exposures, on 
the other hand, the tree developes its existence, in 
full health and luxuriance. It reaches a height, such 
as the soil and situation admit, and sufficient to al- 
low the branches, which are thrown out on every 
side, to expand their leaves freely to the sun. Not 
being compelled to concentrate its efforts, in secur- 
ing a scanty supply of one beneficial influence, all its 
proportions are absolute and universal, not relative 
and particular. In such circumstances, therefore, it 
may be considered as in a full and natural state of 
perfection. 

" Another condition of vegetable life appears to 
be an adequate degree of Heat. Within a certain 
range of temperature, vegetation is positively pro- 
moted : Below, or above a certain point (the de- 
gree differing in different species of plants), vegeta- 
tion is positively checked. To speak only of the 
latter case, which is briefly expressed by the term 

R 



258 



NOTICES OF AUTHaRS. 



Cold, it is either produced by absolute lowness of 
temperature, or, in particular circumstances, by the 
generation of cold, through the eifect of wind, and 
consequent evaporation from a moist surface ; for 
trees, in themselves, have but little self-generated 
heat, above the surrounding temperatui'e. Some 
they certainly possess, otherwise they would be killed 
during severe frosts. Of the above accidents nature 
can modify the former, by accommodating different 
species of plants to different latitudes and eleva- 
tions : Against the latter she adopts the plan of af-- 
fording suitable protection to the individual. In 
the interior of woods, where the free current of air 
is intercepted, where stillness and serenity are main- 
tained, and where each tree affords shelter, more or 
less, to every other, nature has little need to gene- 
rate the provisions necessary to mitigate the injuri- 
ous effects of evaporation. But, in open exposures, 
and in the case of isolated trees, this effect must 
be assuaged, and is, in fact, to a certain extent alle- 
viated, by various provisions or properties, bestowed 
upon the tree itself. In the first place, a thicker 
and closer ramification of the sides and top is sup- 
plied, and a more abundant spray towards the stor- 
my quarter, thereby furnishing a kind of clothing of 
leaves, in order to protect from cold both the ascend- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



259 



ing and the descending sap-vessels : And, secondly, 
a greater induration of the epidermis, and thick- 
ness of the cortical layers of the bark are provided ; 
which, forming a bad conductor of heat, act as a still 
more effectual defence to the stem, by preventing 
the immediate and powerful application of cold, 
through the sudden subtraction of caloric, from the 
proper vessels of the inner bark. 

" In this economy, nature only follows the ana- 
logy which she displays in modifying the influence 
of cold upon the animal kingdom. The quadrupeds, 
which are destined to encounter the severity of an 
Arctic winter, are provided with thick and shaggy 
coats, to enable them to withstand the intensity of 
the cold ; and all the richest furs, which man em- 
ploys to supply his natural, or rather his artificial 
wants, are always furnished by animals inhabiting 
the highest latitudes, and killed during the severest 
frosts. What is still more illustrative of the point 
under consideration is, that the coats of animals, of 
which the thin and short hair is familiar to us in the 
temperate climates, such as the dog, the fox, and 
the ox, are all remarkable, under the polar regions, 
for their close, lengthened, and almost impenetrable 
fibre, as a secure barrier of non-conducting matter, 
to prevent the escape of their vital heat. 



260 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS, 



" In like manner, in all the other relations, we 
see Nature especially accommodating the character 
of each individual plant, to the exigencies of its par- 
ticular situation. In the interior of woods, the 
wind can exert a far less mechanical effect on indi- 
vidual trees ; and therefore, while they Vixe positively 
determined to push upwards towards the light, they 
are negatively permitted to do so, by the removal of 
any necessity to thicken their trunks, for the sake 
of greater strength, and to contract the height of 
them, in order to afford the blast a shorter lever 
against the roots. But, with trees in an open situa- 
tion, all this is widely different. There they are 
freely exposed to the wind, and the large expansion 
of their branches, gives every advantage to the vio- 
lence of the storm. Nature, accordingly, bestows 
greater proportional thickness, and less proportional 
elevation on trees, which are isolated, or nearly so ; 
while their system of root, which, by necessity, is 
correlatively proportional to their system of top, af- 
fords likewise heavier ballast, and a stronger anchor- 
age, in order to counteract the greater spread of sail, 
displayed in the wider expansion of the branches. 

" Every individual tree is thus a beautiful system 
of qualities, specially relative to the place which it 
holds in creation ; of provisions admirably accommo- 



steuart's planter's guide. 261 



dated to the peculiar circumstances of its case. Here 
every thing is necessary ; nothing is redundant. In 
the words of a great philosopher, who was an accu- 
rate observer of nature, ' Where the necessity is 
obviated, the remedy, by consequence, is withdrawn.* 
If these facts and reasonings be correctly stated, the 
only rational theory of the removal of large trees 
consists, in prospectively maintaining the same har- 
mony between the existing provisions of the tree, 
and the exigencies of its new situation, as had pre- 
viously subsisted between its relative properties and 
the circumstances of its former site." 

" In considering the characteristics of trees above 
mentioned, we should always bear in mind, that 
every production of nature is an end to itself, and 
that every part of it is, at once, end and mean. Of 
trees in open exposures we find, that their peculiar 
properties contribute, in a remarkable manner, to 
their health and prosperity. In the first place, their 
shortness and greater girth of stem, in contradistinc- 
tion to others in the interior of woods, are obviously 
intended to give to the former greater strength to 
resist the winds, and a shorter lever to act upon the 
roots ; Secondly, their larger heads, with spreading 
branches, in consequence of the free access of light, 
are formed as plainly for the nourishment, as well as 



262 NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 

the balancing of so large a trunk, and also for fur- 
nishing a cover to shield it from the elements ; 
Thirdly, their superior thickness and induration of 
bark is, in like manner, bestowed for the protection 
of the sap-vessels that lie immediately under it, and 
which, without such defence from cold, could not 
perform their functions ; Fom'thly, their greater 
number and variety of roots are for the double pur- 
pose of nourishment and strength ; nourishment to 
support a mass of such magnitude, and strength to 
contend with the fury of the blast." 

On the other hand, in the interior of woods, a 
universal tendency, for the reasons already stated, is 
observable in trees, to rise to the light, to attain 
greater altitude, to form far smaller heads, and tal- 
ler, slenderer, and more elegant stems. Here is 
found a milder and more genial climate ; in which, 
by means of the calm generated by shelter, vegeta- 
tion is not checked by cold, and, at the same time, 
is undistm'bed by the external impediment of wind ; 
and nature has no need, as in the case of exposures, 
to generate provisions necessary to mitigate the ef- 
fect of evaporation, as has been above observed, or 
to endue each indi\idual tree with distinct and ap- 
propriate means of defence against the elements." 

That, as the four protecting properties, al- 



^teuakt's planter's guide. 



26S 



ready delineated, as belonging to trees in open si- 
tuations, are essential and necessary to the vigorous 
development of their existence, so they may be set 
down as indispensable prerequisites for those in- 
tended for transplantation, which generally implies 
increased exposure ; and that soil and climate being 
equal, such subjects will succeed the best as are en- 
dued in the greatest degree with those prerequisites 
or properties." 

" If we adopt this principle, and follow it up 
with a judicious mode of execution, it seems evi- 
dent that the necessity of defacing or mutilating 
the fine tops of trees will be entirely superseded. We 
shall obtain at once, what the art, as hitherto prac- 
tised, has not been able to obtain for us, the Imme- 
diate and Full effect of Wood, that is. Trees com- 
plete and perfect in all their parts, without the 
loss of the time required to replace the parts so de- 
faced and mutilated." — " And if such a mode of 
execution be superinduced upon it, as shall furnish 
to the tree a competent supply of sap at the critical 
period of removal, the art probably may be said to 
be established on fixed principles ^ 

" Wind being, in a great degree, excluded in un- 
thinned plantation, and evaporation prevented, heat 
is, by consequence, generated in an undue degree. 



264 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



In the same way, light is nearly shut out from such 
plantations, except from the top, and a dispropor- 
tionate elongation of the stem is occasioned hy the 
efforts which each individual makes to gain the 
lightr P. 191. 

Now, what do we gather from all these disco- 
veries which, in continuation, our author turns round 
and round, and exhibits to us under every com- 
bination, with admirable elegance, it must be al- 
lowed, like the objects in a kaleidoscope ? — that trees 
grown in sheltered situation are not suited for ex- 
posed situation, because their roots are proportionally 
too small, and the stem too long for stability under 
the strain of high winds ; their exterior bark or epi- 
dermis, dead and living, too thin to afford protection 
to the sap- vessels from cold, the effect of evaporation 
caused by the wind; their spray and leaves too ele- 
vated and open to exclude the cold, or wind gene- 
rating cold, from the stem and branches. That the 
reverse coexistent conditions of trees in open situ- 
ation — sliort stout stem, thick bark dead and liv- 
ing, strong rooting, close cover of spray and leaves 
all around, befitting the plant to withstand the tem- 
pest, and affording shelter to the sap-vessels of the 
stem and branches— and these conditions being want- 



STEUART'S planter's GUIDE. 



265 



ing when redundant in sheltered situation, show the 
beautiful adaptation of means to end, like warm fur of 
animals in cold countries : That trees being formed 
to grow tall in close situation, is a beneficent provi- 
sion of Providence for accommodating man with 
straight long clean deal and beams : That trees shoot 
tall in close situation because they strain hard to 
reach the light : That trees shoot tall in close situa- 
tion from warmth : That shelter and exposure is heat 
and cold : That, " to establish any just analogy be- 
tween the transplanting of young and of old trees is 
utterly impossible :" That these conditions of trees 
being thus explained to mankind, and followed up 
by judicious execution, the thing is reduced to fixed 
principles, and raised to the rank of an useful art, 
and the necessity of defacing, or mutilating, the fine 
tops of trees, when transplanted, entirely superseded. 

We shall now attempt to weigh some of these 
assertions and conclusions of Sir Henry, and to 
pursue these inquiries a little farther. 

It is known to every forester, that trees growing 
in close order, and drawn up tall, will not continue 
healthy on being thinned out to very open arrange- 
ment, but will often fall victims to the change of 
circumstances, even though they withstand the gale. 
Who, then, would be guilty of the folly of expecting 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



they would bear exposure and the injuries of trans- 
planting at the same time? Sir Henry Steuart 
mentions some particular facts as causes of this un- 
suitableness. Perhaps it would have been as well 
to ascribe it to general inaptitude and delicacy, as 
there are several other circumstances not easily un- 
derstood, such as vital stamina, habitude or accli- 
matizing, and texture and configuration of vessels, 
which must have influence. We should also think 
simple evaporation of the fluids of the transplanted 
tree a much greater cause of its failure than the cold 
of this or of any other evaporation acting to numb 
the sap-vessels in the stem and branches. The ab- 
sorbing mouths of the rootlets, excepting in the case 
of very large balls, are generally destroyed by the 
operation of removal ; and the development of the 
leaves to a certain extent taking place before any 
new process of striking of the roots, owing to the 
atmosphere and branches getting sooner heated in 
spring than the ground and roots, the half-de- 
veloped leaves shrivel up in the arid spring air, from 
the evaporation of the juices and deficiency of root- 
suction ; and when the air gets moist, showers fall, 
and the earth becomes warm enough for the strik- 
ing of the roots, the vital principle is too far spent, 
or the material substance too mucH changed, for the 



steuart's planter's guide. 



267 



recommencement of organic action. We have found 
that trees which had remained months out of ground, 
and were planted in March, succeed better than 
trees removed immediately from their old site to 
their new, both being planted with equal care in 
the same ground at the same time. The latter ac- 
quired half developed leaves early in April, which 
withered from deficiency of root-suction ; and it was 
only with attention that we succeeded in causing 
them to bud forth anew and acquire leaves about 
midsummer ; in several, we stimulated the root- 
suction by application of heated water, covering up 
with litter to retain the heat. The former were se- 
veral weeks more backward in leafing, and when the 
buds burst, the ground had become warm enough 
for root'StriMng, and the vegetation proceeded with- 
out check. Sir Henry will say, that the check sus- 
tained by those which leafed early, was owing to 
the numbing effect of the cold spring wind, and of 
the cold of evaporation on the sap-vessels of the 
stem ; but we had caused several of them to be 
wrapped round the stem with soft straw-ropes, and 
this did not prevent the shrivelling of the leaves, al- 
though it certainly protected the sap-vessels from 
the cold. This withering of the leaves of trans- 
planted trees, by which large transplanted trees so 



268 NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



frequently perish, is most prevalent in cold damp 
soils, when the air is dry and the sun powerful, and 
evidently results from the superior vegetation being 
in advance of the inferior ; torpor of the roots, not 
torpor of the sap-vessels of the stem from cold. It 
is also perfectly evident, that trees with long naked 
stems will suffer most, as their leaves are raised 
higher, more in the current of the drying wind ; 
their root and top farther asunder, therefore less 
liable to contemporaneous impulse ; the sap-vessels 
of the stem longer and more attenuated, therefore 
the streams of fluids from the soil, not only smaller, 
but also more liable to obstruction, or to flow slowly, 
from the insufficiency of the vital impulse, or of en- 
dosmose in the wounded sickly plant to impel to such 
a height. Our author's assertion, that the rough epi- 
dermis generally covering the live bark of trees in 
open situations, is necessary to the health of the tree, 
in protecting the sap-vessels from cold, is, we think, 
not quite correct. Some time ago we caused the dead 
epidermis be hewn down from several trees, in a ra- 
ther exposed situation. This was done vdth consi- 
derable nicety, and extending up along the branches. 
We remember of one case, of very thick indm'ated 
epidermis, where a carpenter was employed more 
than a day in laying bare the live bark of one tree. 



steuart's planter's guide. 



269 



Instead of suiFeriug injury by this exposure of the 
sap-vessels to cold, the trees rather acquired new vi- 
gour from the operation ; and the particular tree 
alluded to, was unusually luxuriant the season fol- 
lowing this flaying, which was performed in winter. 
Now, to apply Sir Henry's analogy of fiir of ani- 
mals, w^ould an arctic fox have been benefited by 
exposure to the winter's cold in like plight ? We 
also think Sir Henry will find the trees of dry cli- 
mates have a much thicker coating of dead bark than 
in cold countries, evidently a consequence of desicca- 
tion*, and, if Sir Henry must have animal analogy — 
similar to the desiccation and cracking of the skin of 
man in arid air. 

* We particularize the oak, cork-tree of arid warm Spain, and 
much of the timber of New Holland. Owing to the hot parch- 
ing air in the latter place, the epidermis becomes dried to such a 
degree, that contracting by the droughty, and bursting by the 
swelling of the enveloped stem, it peels off like the old skin of a 
serpent, and is often seen hanging upon the tree in large shreds 
like tattered garments. In several kinds of trees, we have count- 
ed regular annual rings of desiccated bark ; in some kinds this ap- 
peared a growth or deposition, in others, mere parched exuviae. 
Trees attain some age before the exuvice commence ; the deposit 
begins the first season, even in sheltered situations. The cork- 
tree, and the small-leaved elm, shew the greatest annual deposit of 
dry bark. The former does, and the latter is said to belong to 
warm arid countries ; both form a better nonconductor of heat 
than any other dry bark we are acquainted with — infinitely better 
than the bark exuviae of trees which approach the polar regions. 



270 



NOTICES OF AUTHOHS. 



It is a subject of considerable difficulty to explain 
the cause of slender lengthened shoots in sheltered 
situations, and short stout shoots in exposed. Sir 
Henry solves this " excellently well" in two ways, 
first, attributing it to shelter and exposure them- 
selves, — " for shelter is heat, and exposure cold," — 
and again, to an instinctive straining in the shelter- 
ed to reach the light, of which its neighbours deprive 
it every way but from above, and would do so there 
too if it failed to exert itself 

We find that vegetables have long spindling 
shoots, and wide spaces between the leaves or buds, 
when growing in a damp, still, close atmosphere, espe- 
cially when the plant is sickly or weak from defi- 
ciency of nourishment, and that this happens equally, 
whether a trailing plant being supported aloft throws 
out depending shoots in opposition to the current 
of light ; whether a climbing * plant runs out hori- 
zontally along a branch or beam at right angles to 
the light, or whether a self- supported mounting 
plant rises in direct opposition to gravity. No 
doubt, when the light comes from one direction, 

* We do not pretend to explain how it is, that one kind of 
climbing plant follows the sun in its convolutions, and another 
traverses his course. There surely cannot be any thing in a ha- 
bit acquired in the southern hemisphere. 

3 



steuart's planter's guide. 271 

such as the aperture of a window, the plant shoots 
forth towards the light, possibly in consequence 
of the leaves inclining themselves to receive the ray- 
on their superficies, and thus leading'the shoot in the 
direction of the light. But this does not prove any- 
straining or lengthening of the shoot to approach the 
light ; and we ask, what do general opinion and Sir 
Henry found their belief upon, of lengthening 
growth and straining to approach the light ? 

Again, with regard to heat, we notice that plants, 
particularly shoots from tubers, left to sprout in 
cold, damp, confined cellars, throw out very long 
stems, with wide spaces between the buds or leaves, 
and that very long shoots always occur in confined 
damp air — ^long in the ratio of the dampness and 
confinement, whatever the degree of heat may be, 
provided it exceed a little the vegetating point. Also 
on the north side of hills, the trees have generally 
longer stems than on the sun-ward side, although in 
the former case, they are exposed to the northern 
blast, while in the latter they bask in the sun. Has 
the same kind of plant, in lower latitudes, longer 
spaces between the leaves than in higher ? And if 
it has not, is the cold, from greater evaporation, 
sufficient to balance the superior heat of the cli- 
mate ? 

I 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



The above facts must lead, we think, to the con- 
clusion, that evaporation, or non-evaporation, of the 
fluids, has, directly, a very considerable influence in 
causing a shorter or longer extension of the shoot 
betv/een the buds or leaves, and that the influence 
of the cold of this evaporation is at most but of a 
very secondary character. We would compare the 
extending rudiments and matter of the young scion 
to the slow flowing of a gelatinous fluid. In moist 
air, the watery part is slowly evaporated, and the 
drop extends into a long pendulous form. In dry 
air, the water of solution is quickly evaporated, lon- 
gitudinal extension ceases, and the pendant is thick- 
er and shorter. The cold of evaporation may a 
little affect the fluidity, but only in a very small de- 
gree 

The causes of the elongation of vegetables are, 

* In proceeding further on in Sir Henry's volume, we have 
noticed an excellent observation quoted from Du Hamel : " The 
extension of the shoot is inversely as its induration, rapid while it 
remains herbaceous, but slow as it is converted into wood. Hence 
moisture and shade are the circumstances, of all others, the most 
favourable to elongation, because they prevent induration or re- 
tard it." Although quoting this, Sir Henry recurs to his old opi- 
nions, and proceeds to observe, " Trees so circumstanced, push 
upward to the light ; and from the warmth which their situation 
affords, their stems being thin and slender in proportion to their 
height, they are destitute of strength to resist the winds.'^ 



steuart's planter's guide. 



however, not very plain. We have noticed, that the 
deeper the seed is placed in the ground, the braird 
rises the higher above ground, even when the seeds 
at the different depths have been equally moist. This 
might admit of explanation, but having already oc- 
cupied too much space with this subject, we shall 
only remark further, that in close woods, the trees 
elongate, because they are precluded from extend- 
ing laterally. The top buds, from receiving more 
of the stimulating or nourishing influence of the 
dew, sun's rays, fresh unvitiated air, invigorating 
motion of the winds, and perhaps of electricity*, 

* We do not mention temperature, because we are not in pos- 
session of facts sufficient to lead us to form an opinion on the 
subject. Judging from animal analogy, of which our author is so 
fond, we notice, that those animals exposed in open atmosphere, 
have generally warmer blood than those who lurk in holes, — even 
than those of the same species who happen to live under shelter. 
Now evaporation takes place from animals as well as from vege- 
tables, and the consequent cold is more than balanced by the heat of 
what may be termed the vital fire, which, like most other fires, 
burns brightest on exposure to a current of atmospheric air, being 
increased either by the result of the new chemical combinations 
having less capacity for heat, or by the stimulus of the fresh 
moving air exciting the vital action. Of the general influence of 
close forest on temperature, we are also not very well assured ; 
but the few facts which observation has afforded, lead to the 
opinion, that to the northward of 30 deg. Lat. forests have higher 
temperature than bare country; that from about 30 to 30 de- 
grees Lat. forests are cooler in winter and warmer in sum- 



274i NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



throw out a greater continuation of shoot than the 
under branches; nearly the whole nomishment from 
the soil being on this account draTO up and con- 
sumed by these top shoots, and the lower over- 
shadowed tmgs and branches languishing and dying 
from the absence of these advantages. Besides this 
extension of top shoots, by the greater continuation 
of leaves, or links of life, occasioned by the above 
causes, these shoots, o^ving to the moist atmosphere 
of the wood, also push out into longer spaces be- 
tween the leaves. However, these top branches do 
not push sun-ward, but merely in opposition to gra- 
vity. 

Sir Henry states, that " trees certainly possess 
some heat, otherwise they would be killed dming 
severe frosts." Our belief of the vital heat of vege- 
tables is placed on a much better foundation than 

mer ; and tbat nearer the equator, forests are generally cooler 
than bare country. But the temperature is regulated so much 
by the position of seas and lakes, in combination with the prevail- 
ing currents and strength of currents of the air — by the configu- 
ration of the country, — moisture and cloudiness of the atnoosphere 
and quantity of rain, — by the composition, aiTangement, and co- 
lour of the soil, — by the lower vegetable cover, and even by the 
nature of the forest itself, whether deciduous or evergreen, that 
particular facts must be very carefully weighed to enable us to 
reach general conclusions. It is generally understood, that forests 
render the climate moister. 



steuaut's planter's guide. 



£75 



this otherwise ; otherwise our credence would be far 
from philosophic. Freezing cold alFects many vege- 
tables as well as some of the lower animals, only by 
mechanical injury, in rending the vessels by means 
of the expansion of the contained fluid. Now, if 
these vessels are not quite full of fluid, if the fluid 
be of such a nature as not to congeal into greater 
size, or if the body be small, and the vessels elastic, 
to yield to expansion without fracture — the vege- 
table or animal will often resume vitality, on being 
thawed from thorough congelation. We have ren- 
dered potatoes, turnips, and fruits, frost-proof, at 
least unless the frost was intense, by a slight desicca- 
tion caused by exposing them a short time to the 
air after being taken from the ground or tree In 
the cases where fishes and reptiles have been found 

* Our experiments have not yet been carried so far, as to de- 
termine if, by any arrangement of drying or exposure, they may 
be seasoned to sustain intense frost, which may affect them 
differently from moderate frost, either by causing complete con- 
gelation of all their structure (moderate freezing appearing only 
to congeal their fluids, but not entirely the containing vessel, at 
least only partly congealing the mass), or by killing the vital 
principle itself through nervous affection. The potatoes became 
green from the exposure to the light, and we rather think ac- 
quired greater hardihood of constitution, or greater vitality or ex- 
citability by the exposure, thence greater power to resist the cold, 
independent of the disposition they acquired by desiccation to en- 
dure it. 



276 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS, 



frozen so hard as to require a hatchet to dissect 
them, and revising on thawing, it will he found that 
the fluids were principally oleaginous, which do not 
expand in congealing; and in the case of insects heing 
frozen in masses during the night, and resuming- 
their liveliness next day in the sun, we think, if their 
fluids have congealed at all, that either the vessels 
must have yielded, being elastic (which might more 
likely take place in a small body, T^dthout general 
fracture and derangement) ^ or that the fluids had not 
extended by being congealed ; but it is very pro- 
bable, though frozen together in a mass of water 
and mud, that their fluids, from being of an acid 
nature, had resisted the congelation. 

With regard to trees, we have heard that intense 
frost often splits the trunks of some of our indige- 
nous kinds by congelation * ; but these trees re- 
tain vitality, and only suffer from the consequences 
which may ensue from the fissures. We have 
seen evergreens, plants from milder climates, and 
trees which had not thoroughly ripened their 

* Is the rending of the stems of trees, during intense frost, in° 
ternal only, and occasioned hy the alburnum expanding more by 
congelation than the drier matm'e wood ? or, is it external, antf 
caused by the contractile effect of the dry air and cold on the al- 
bui'num rendering it insufficient to surround the mature wood, 
which, from dryness and want of livin? susceptibility, may non 
contract so much 



steuart's planter's guide. 277 

wood (that is, retained the vessels full of mois- 
ture), injured in the extremities, and even killed 
throughout by cold. But this does not prove that 
these had any vegetable heat, any more than those 
which suffered no injury from the same degree of 
cold, prove that they had vegetable heat. The juices 
of some kinds of plants do not congeal at the same 
point of temperature as others. The vessels of some 
in winter are not so much distended with fluids as 
others ; and probably the ^ital principle of some is 
less susceptible of injury from cold than others. These 
facts may account for the endurance of intense cold 
by some kinds of trees, independent of vegetable 
heat. 

Our author, speaking of the transplanting of 
fruit trees, states, that any gardener could have 
predicted the probability of fruit during the first 
season, together with fthe certainty during the se- 
cond of its not taking place." Our gardeners will 
be moonstruck at having the gift of prophecy attri- 
buted to them, at least to predict in such a way. 
We have thought Sir Henry sufficiently ready to 
impute ignorance to gardeners before we came to this 
remark ; but to represent a useful and intelligent 
class of men in so ludicrous a light, is certainly using 
a very improper liberty. 



278 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



Every gardener is aware tliat trees will fruit the 
first season after transplanting, just if they have had 
the rudiments of the fruit formed in the bud before 
transplanting, and should the blossom not be injured 
by severe weather. Every gardener is aware, though 
Sir Henry seems not, that all fruit trees, of any size, 
form these rudiments the season after transplanting, 
and that they invariably fruit the second season, if 
the season suit the fruiting of the kind ; and every 
gardener of any experience is capable, even without 
Sir Henry's instructions, of removing a fruit tree of 
considerable size, without injuring it so severely as 
to prevent it fruiting both first and second season, 
which it will do, and even mature fine fruit both 
years, though during the first, under very unfavour- 
able circumstances, it should scarcely be able to de- 
velope leaves l-5th of the usual size, and though 
these leaves wither and drop off long before the sum- 
mer is ended, while the fruit remains to ripen on the 
tree. This is a direct consequence of evaporation. 
The thin leaves shrivel up in the ardent sun from 
evaporation and want of sufficient supply by root- 
suction ; and the bulbs of the fruit, from their mas- 
siveness, contain sufficient moisture to resist wither- 
ing till the night, when they drink the dews, and suck 
up some little moisture from the roots, undiminished 



steuart's planter's guide. ^79 



by evaporation in the transit, to replenish the daily- 
loss. 

Sir Henry remarks, that " no man who knows 
any thing of wood, will put down the oak or the 
elm on light sand or gravel, as it is only on deep 
loam and clay that the oak, in particular, will really 
thrive and grow into timber." No man who knows 
how much a suitable soil for any Miid of plant is 
under regulation of the moistness or dryness of the 
atmosphere^ and other circumstances, will refrain 
from smiling at Sir Henry's very superficial acquaint- 
ance with his own subject, and at the manner he 
thus again brings forward mankind to testify in sup- 
port of his own error. Our author will place the 
above quotation among the errata should he take a 
ride up Strath-Tay from Birnam to Kenmore. 

Among other items of expense given by our au- 
thor, none of which seem to be overstated, we feel 
grateful for the information, that compost manure of 
lime, farm-yard dung, and moss, can be obtained, 
compounded, fermented, conveyed and applied, at 
the rate of 6d. and 9d. per single and double load ! 

Sir Henry makes good his assertion, that slow 
grown timber is always stronger, denser, and more 
durable than fast grown, by a cloud of witnesses, — 
every forester, gardener, and carpenter of the coun- 



2S0 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



try, is ready to attest it of course ! There are few 
sublunary matters whicli admit of evidence more 
conclusive. We quote his account of this uniform 
" lav^^ of nature." 



" The same general law operates in a similar 
way on all woody plants, but of course less rapidly, 
owing to the less rapid growth of trees, from the 
lowest bush to the oak of the forest. In all these, 
the culture of the soil tends to accelerate vegetation, 
and by consequence to expand the fibre of the wood. 
It necessarily renders it softer, less solid, and more 
liable to suffer by the action of the elements. Let 
us shortly give a few examples of the uniform effect 
of the law of nature. 

" Every forester is aware how greatly easier it is 
to cut over thorns or furze that are trained in hedges, 
than such as grow naturally wild, and are exempt 
from culture. Gardeners experience the same thing 
in pruning or cutting over fruit trees or shrubs ; 
and, the difference of the texture of the raspberry in 
its wild and in its cultivated state, is as remarkable ; 
for although the stem in the latter state is nearly 
double the thickness of that in the former, it is 
much more easily cut. On comparing the common 
crab, the father of our orchards, with the cultivated 



steuart's planter's guide. 



281 



apple, the greater softness of the wood of the latter 
will be found no less striking to every arboricultu- 
rist. 

" Further, the common oak in Italy and Spain, 
where it grows faster than in Britain, is ascertained 
to be of shorter duration in those countries. In the 
same way, the oak in the Highland districts of 
Scotland or Wales, is of a much harder and closer 
grain, and therefore more durable, than what is 
found in England ; though in such mountains it 
seldom rises to the fifth part, or less, of the English 
tree. Every carpenter in Scotland knows the ex- 
traordinary difference between the durability of 
Highland oak and oak usually imported from Eng- 
land, for the spokes of wheels. Every extensive 
timber-dealer is aware of the superior hardness of 
oak raised in Cumberland and Yorkshire, over that 
of Monmouthshire and Herefordshire ; and such a 
dealer in selecting trees in the same woods, in any 
district, will always give the preference to oak of 
slow growth, and found in cold and clayey soils, and 
to ash on rocky cliffs, which he knows to be the soils 
and climates natural to both. If he take a cubic 
foot of park-oak, and another of forest-oak, and 
weigh the one against the other (or if he do the like 

3 



282 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



with ash and ehn of the same description), the lat- 
ter will uniformly turn out the heavier of the two." 

It is certainly the case, that luxmiant growth 
increases the size of the sap-vessels and cells, but 
with this increase of size, there is often a propor- 
tional increase of thickness of the sides of these ves- 
sels and cells, and a greater than proportional filling 
up of dense matter, as the alburnum is better ri- 
pened in autumn, or as the mature wood, espe- 
cially of hard wood in dry situations, ripens more 
slowly in the course of years. There is also in many 
kinds more of close tissue and cellular part, in pro- 
portion to large sap-vessels, when the tree is grow- 
ing vigorously than when it is stunted. (See the 
facts in our notice of Withers, p. 199.) Thence 
culture does not necessarily render the timber soft- 
er^ less solid, and more liable to suffer by the ac- 
tion of the elements. We are really angry with 
those smooth-tongued rogues who " fool us to the 
top of our bent." Every artificer who has worked 
slow grown ash of considerable age, that is, when 
most of the timber has been deposited after the tree 
has been seeding strongly, assures us that the tim- 
ber is very inferior, in all respects, to that of quick- 
er growth. 



steuart's planter's guide. 



S83 



We consider the forester who has observed that 
thorns or furze trained in hedges are much easier cut 
from softness of timber than when growing in detach- 
ed bushes, a much better observer than ourselves; and 
we would inquire whether he were certain that the 
greater efficiency of his blows was not owing to their 
being better directed, from the conveniency of ac- 
cess, owing to the training up, than from the tim- 
ber being softer ? The example of the raspberry we 
consider very irrelevant, it being only a semi-herba- 
ceous plant of biennial stem. 

Gardeners certainly experience the branches and 
roots of crab -apple to be harder than the varieties 
with thicker bark, larger more downy leaves, and 
larger fruit. The largest growing apple varieties, 
however, are not the above mentioned mild varie- 
ties, but those which have a pretty close approxima- 
tion to the crab. We have taken slips from some 
of the very largest of our pear-trees, and having 
placed them close to the ground on young stocks, 
have found they threw out spines and rectangular 
branching similar to crabs. Those most dissimilar 
to the crab have thick annual shoots, without any la- 
teral rectangular branching, and very thick bark ; 
they have been gradually bred to this condition by 
repeated sowing, always choosing the seed of those 



284 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



partaking most of these qualities for resowing, their 
disposition to vary to mildness being at the same 
time influenced in some measure by culture and 
abundant moist nourishment ; but these mild varie- 
ties, although they throw out a strong annual 
shoot while young, seldom or never reach to any- 
considerable size of tree, unless they are nourished 
by crab roots, their own roots being soft and fleshy, 
and incapable of foraging at much depth or distance. 
Their branches and twigs as they get old, are also 
very soft and friable, covered vdth a thick bark, but 
the timber of the stem is very little inferior in hard- 
ness to crab timber. 

W e ask, if even the fact of these unnaturally ten- 
der varieties (obtained by long-continued selection, 
probably assisted by culture, soil and climate, and 
which, without the cherishing of man, would soon 
disappear), being of rather more porous texture of 
wood, goes any length to prove our author's asser- 
tion ? We have paid some attention to the fibre of 
the genus Pyrus, and find that the Siberian crabs 
have by far the smallest vessels. Having grafted 
the large Fulwood upon the smallest Red Siberian 
Crab, or Cherry-apple, the new wood layers above 
the junction swelled to triple the thickness of those 
below. By ingrafting other kinds upon other 



steuaut's planter's guide. 



285 



stocks, we have found the reverse to take place, no 
doubt owing to those with largest vessels swelling 
the most, there being the same number of vessels 
above and below the junction, each corresponding, 
or being a continuation of the other But this 
small Siberian crab, when ingrafted upon a common 
crab, grew fully as quickly during several years as 
the Fulwood under the same circumstances ; and the 
timber, though of much finer texture, scarcely ex- 
ceeded the other in hardness. Sir Henry tells us, 
that the oak is less durable in Italy and Spain than 
in England f . We tell Sir Henry, that the red- 
wood pitch-pine from Georgia and the Floridas, on 
the confines of the torrid zone, is more durable 
than the red-wood pine from Archangel, on the 
confines of the frigid zone. But does this fact re- 

* The fineness of vessel or fibre of the Siberian crab, may be 
induced by the arid warm air, the continued radiation of heat and 
light upon the portion above ground, and the coldness of the ground 
around the roots during the short summer in Siberia, where the 
air and surface of the ground is warm, and vegetation progressive, 
while the ground remains frozen at a small depth. Like all va- 
rieties of plants habituated to colder climate, the Siberian crab 
developes its leaves under less heat than varieties of the same kind 
which have been habituated to milder climate. 

f We have not taken Sir Henry in the literal sense. Timber 
is well known to decay sooner in a warm than in a cold country, 
cceteris paribus. 



286 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



garding the oak of the south of Europe, prove any 
thing regarding the oak of England, — that it will 
always be deteriorated by culture for several years 
after planting^ or that the quality may not suffer 
as much from slow^ness of growth as from fastness, 
or from the climate being too cold as from being too 
warm? 

The reason why Highland Scots oak spokes are 
superior to English, is, because the latter are gene- 
rally split from out the refuse of the timber cut for 
naval purposes, — ^principally the hranches and tops 
of large trees ; whereas, those from the Highlands of 
Scotland are from the root cuts of copse. We be- 
lieve most carpenters of Scotland are aware of this. 
The oak from the Highlands of Scotland is, however, 
for the most part, of excellent quality, growing ge- 
nerally on dry graxel and rock^ not on cold moist 
clayey soils. The hardest we have ever seen w^as 
from a steep, dry gravel bank, of south exposure, 
in an open situation, much exposed to the western 
breeze. The Highland oak from these soils is ge- 
nerally of a greyish colour, and very dense ; where- 
as that from moist soils is often reddish-brown, and 
defective. Should Sir Henry weigh portions of oak 
from these soils in a pair of material, in place of 
mental scales, we think his conclusions would be 

1 



steuart's planter's guide. 



287 



somewhat different. — The strongest, hardest ash we 
have seen, was cut from a hard, dry, adhesive clay, 
of course a young tree. 

Sir Henry, speaking of the Western Highlands and 
Islands of Scotland, states that " it is from a want of 
soil, and not of climate, that woods of any given ex- 
tent cannot be got up in these unsheltered, but ro- 
mantic situations." Of many situations of these 
bleak districts, this must be admitted, but we can- 
not receive it as a general fact ; and even where it 
holds true, the want of (proper) soil, or formation of 
peat, is a consequence of the want of climate, al- 
though this may have reacted to increase the evil. 
There must have been a greater warmth of climate, 
at least in summer, when the forests grew% which 
lie buried in the mosses of the northern part of 
Scotland, and of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, 
as some kinds of timber are found in situations where 
such kinds, by no circumstances of gradual shelter 
under the present climate, could have gro\\Ti. There 
are several indications of a greater warmth having 
been general throughout Britain, and even farther 
eastward, and that a slight refrigeration is still in 
progress. We instance the once numerous vine- 
yards of England, — the vestiges of aration so nume- 
rous upon many of our hills, where it would now be 
considered fruitless to attempt raising grain, even 



288 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



with the assistance of modern science ; and the re- 
port that the Caspian is gradually overflowing her 
shores, a probahle consequence of diminished evapo- 
ration from decrease of heat. 

That this is not wholly owing to the moisture 
and cold consequent to the moss formation, or to 
any cover or want of cover to the earth, of timber, or 
of any other plants which might possibly have effect 
upon the temperature by shade, evolution of vege- 
table heat, electric or meteoric agency, w^e think 
proved, should the asserted fact be correct, that, in 
the sm^all oes of Shetland, (so distant from any con- 
siderable portion of land as not to be under these 
influences, and so small, that the climate must be 
solely dependant upon the sea), timber is found in the 
morasses, although the climate will not now admit 
of timber growing, being apparently equally deterio- 
rated as that of the Mainland. It is not improbable 
that the superior former climate of the North of 
Scotland and Islands was owing to their having 
formed, at one time, an extensive country, perhaps 
joined to the continent, and thus partaking of the 
continental climate, that is, having a colder wdnter 
and warmer summer, capable of producing consider- 
able vigour of arboreous vegetation, and not so fa- 
vourable to the generating of that fixed vegetable 
incubus, peat-moss, who has crept over, and folded 



steuart's planter's guide. 289 

in her chill embrace, the once fair districts of north- 
ern Scotland. The fogs and more steady low tem- 
perature of insular situation, which now prevail, not 
only induce that chemical change in dead and dy- 
ing vegetables which forms peat-moss, and preserves 
this moss from decay, but also being too cool for the 
vegetation of the graminese, &c. tend only to promote 
the general spread of sphagni and other moss-gene- 
rating plants, which, again, are almost the only 
plants that can vegetate on acrid moss-flow, as they 
draw little or nothing from below, and are nourished 
directly by the moisture and other fluids of the at- 
mosphere. 

Our eastern shore affords sufficient proof that the 
ocean has both receded and advanced recently — at 
least recently in comparison with the great changes 
which have occurred to modify the surface of the 
earth. In proof of this recession, we have the up- 
per carses, or deltas, visible in every firth or creek 
where a river falls into the German Sea. These 
carses, on the firths in Ross-shire, at Dun near 
Montrose, around the upper end of the Firths of 
Tay and Forth, are all of nearly equal level, about 
20 feet above the highest stream-tides. The gra- 
vel bar at Montrose is considerably above the pre- 
sent sea-level. A number of eaves exist on this 

T 



290 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



eastern coast, evidently worn into the rock by the 
action of the sea at the height where the waves have 
broken. These caves have nearly one level, corres- 
ponding in height mth that of the carses. There 
are also many places where the coast has been shorn 
away by the action of the waves, and ashelf of rocks 
left extending out some hundred paces. This abra^ 
sion, which takes place nearly at, or a little above, low 
water-mark, is effected by innumerable hard pebbles 
(the most indurated parts of the rocks which give 
way being converted into battering material for fur- 
ther reduction), being upborne and dashed against 
the rock by the continuous heaving and lashing of 
the waves. Wherever any breach commences from 
the feebler opposition of any softer part, the action 
of the waves and battering train proceeds with in- 
creased impetus and concentration, especially if the 
breach be wedge-shaped narrovdng inward, thence 
caves of considerable extent are hallowed out. The 
rocks thus abraded and undermined, tumble down 
and are ground into sand, which is swept by the 
tides and motion of the waters into the depths of 
the ocean, or borne along to the upper end of the 
bays, or to some part of the coast where more slug- 
gish lateral tides, and particular motion of the waves 
leave it and throw it ashore to be blown up into 



steuart's planter's guide. 291 

downs. There are some former islands which have 
been altogether shorn down to this sea-level, of 
which the Bell-Rock, extending nearly a mile of 
shelf, affords a well known specimen. In many places 
of the coast, these shelves accord with the superior 
former level of the sea, and with the floors of the 
caves. 

In proof of the sea having advanced upon the 
land, there are vestiges of submerged forests (the 
stumps of the trees standing erect where they grew, 
at or a little above the present lowest ebb) existing 
at different places on the eastern coast, both of 
England and Scotland, and these vestiges standing 
upon a former carse or alluvium of the rivers, are 
visible in the same firths with the upper level of carse, 
of course generally more to seaward than these higher 
carses, as deposition of rivers occurs at what may be 
termed deposition point, that is where the rivers, 
from the stemming of the sea-water, begin to widen 
— where the firths commence ; and the slowness of 
the motion of the water gives time for the subsi- 
dence of the floated mud. By reason of the flux 
and reflux of the tide into the mouths of rivers, this 
deposition takes place only at or near high water, 
that is, when the strength of the inward tide-flux 
ceases, and before that of the reflux begins. It is 

T 2 



292 



NOTICES OF aTJTHORS, 



most abundant at the windward shore, or where 
there is least surf, and among the tall gramina and 
other vegetation where there is least undulation and 
current ; the deposition which occurs at this time^ 
some distance below high water level, is floated away 
by the current of the following flux and reflux, 
unless some object afford a nucleus of formation. 
Hence deltas or carses usually form near the shore 
of firths, generally soon rise to high-water level, 
and have often steep, or even abrupt, banks, collect- 
ing at one place, and giving way before the waves 
and undermining current at another. There is a de- 
position of another kind than river diluvium, which 
also takes place at the bottom, or further end, of bays 
and firths, and is sometimes mixed with the preced- 
ing : This consists, as mentioned above, of the 
abrasion of the rocks, or shores of the bay and neigh- 
bouring coast, and also of molluscous exuvise, borne 
along by the motion of the waters ; but this is ge- 
nerally rather an accumulation than a deposition, 
occurring in greatest quantity where a heavy swell 
rolls dead in. 

Although we have pretty accurate proof that the 
present elevation of the German Sea has remained 
nearly steady for several hundred years, yet our new 
formation of carse, at the present high-water level, 



STEUART'S planter's GUIDE. 293 

bears a small proportion to the extent of the upper 
carse ; from which may be inferred, either that the 
sea has remained a shorter time at the present level, 
or that some general cause has more recently opera- 
ted to diminish the deposition, such as inferiority 
of present climate not producing so much littoral 
vegetation, — tides or higher v^inds preventing sub- 
sidence by greater undulation or current, till the 
diffused mud be carried out to sea *. The junction 
of the higher and present sea-level carses, abrupt 
and always definite, that is, not gradually declining 
from the one to the other, would seem to indicate a 
quick subsiding of the sea, or rising of the land, 
such as has been known to result from subterraneous 
derangement. The very accurate level of these carses 
proves, that this portion of the world has remained 
a very long time pretty free from these disturbances, 
recently so prevalent in some other quarters ; and 
if the change of sea-level has been owing to such 
disturbance, it follows, from the extent and regula- 
rity of the upheaving or subsidence, that the cause 
must have been very deep seated, or of great magni- 
tude. 

We begin to think, from our disposition to ram^ 
ble from the Allanton system, that we tire of Sir 

* See Appendix F. 



294 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



Henry ; and we believe, should he follow us thus 
far, that he will be tired of us. On looking back on 
what we have written, we are almost disposed to ac- 
cuse ourselves of being splenetic ; but the truth is, 
we regard the whole art as very unimportant, if not 
positively pernicious, at least in the way in which it 
has been exemplified by Sir Henry, as a throwing 
away of valuable labour to no purpose, if it ought 
not indeed to be considered as a mere pander to 
luxury and caprice. We have no sympathy with 
the aristocratical object of the book, and as little 
with the aristocratical tone in which it has been be- 
praised by Sir Walter Scott. We should also have 
no greater pleasure in the discovery of a royal road 
to virtue than we should have to the discovery of 
one to science,^^ — the four cardinal virtues being, as 
every body knows, writing books, building houses, 
and raising trees and children, but we should hope, 
neither by proxy, nor by the Allanton System, 
While, however, we thus state our opinions with 
freedom, we do not hesitate to add, that Sir Henry's 
volume has afforded us more information, or, at least, 
more materials for reflection, than any other of the 
works which we have brought under the notice of 
our readers. 



STEUART'S planter's GUIDE. 295 



We shall finish our remarks on Sir Henry's work, 
by making some observations upon a quotation made 
by Sir Henry Steuart, from " A Treatise on the 
Forming and Improving of Country Residences," 
by the Author of the Encyclopgedia of Gardening, 
kc. — an author, who combines talent, successful in- 
dustry, and enlightened benevolence, in no common 
degree. We are sorry to appear before this author, 
whom we have long esteemed, in opposition ; yet we 
regret the less, as we consider him one of the few 
who prefer accm-acy and truth to an old opinion, and 
whose name stands too high to be aflPected by a 
casual misconception. 

The general ejffects of pruning," says this au- 
thor, as quoted by Sir Henry Steuart, " is of a cor- 
responding nature with culture, that is, to increase 
the quantity of timber-produce : the particular man- 
ner in which it does this is by directing the greater 
part of the sap, which generally spreads itself into 
side branches, into the principal stem. This must 
consequently enlarge the stem in a more than ordi- 
nary degree, by increasing the annual circles of the 
wood. Now, if the tree be in a worse soil and cli^ 
mate than those which are natural to it, this will 
he of some advantage^ as the extra increase of tim- 



296 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



ber will still be of a quality not inferior to what 
would take place in its natui'al state ; or, in other 
words, it will correspond with that degree of quali- 
ty and quantity of timber, which the natui'e and 
species of the tree admit of being produced. If the 
tree be in its natural state, the annual increase of 
timber occasioned by priming, must necessarily in- 
jure its quality in a degree corresponding with the 
increased quantity. If the tree be in a better cli- 
mate and soil than that which is natural to it, and 
at the same time the annual increase of wood be pro- 
moted by pruning, it is evident that such wood must 
be of a i^ery different quality from that produced in 
its natural state (that is X)ery infeiior)^ — " What- 
ever tends to increase the ivood in a greater de- 
gree than what is natural to the species ivhen in 
its natural state, must injure the quality of tlie tim- 
ber. Pruning tends to increase this in a consider- 
able degree, and therefore it must be a perjiicious 
practice'' — " Mr Knight has shown, in a very strik- 
ing manner, that timber is produced, or rather that 
the alburnum or sap-wood is rendered ligneous, by 
the motion of the tree, during the descent of the 
tree (or proper) sap. It is also sufficiently known, 
that the solid texture of the wood greatly depends 
upon the quantity of sap which must necessarily 



steuart's planter's guide. 



descend, and also on the slowness of the descent. 
Now, both these requisites are materially increased 
by side-branches, which retain a large quantity of 
sap, and, by their junction with the stem, occasion a 
contraction and twisted direction of the vessels, which 
obstructs the progress of the (proper) sap. Of ma- 
ple and birch, those trees which have fewest side- 
branches bleed more freely than the other, but du- 
ring a much shorter space of time. These hints, 
therefore, afford additional evidence against pruning, 
and particularly against pruning fir trees, which, as 
Mr Knight justly observes, have larger vessels than 
the others, and therefore, when in an improved soil 
and climate, side-branches for the purposes above 
mentioned are essentially necessary to them, if so- 
lid, resinous, and durable timber be the object in 
view. 

From the foregoing remarks, I think the follow- 
ing conclusions may be drawn. 

" First, That trees should be planted as much as 
possible in soils, situations, and climates, analogous 
to those of their natural state ; and that it is chief- 
ly in this state, or when there are some defects rela- 
tive to it, that pruning or culture can be exercised 
with advantage. 

3 



298 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



Secondly, That in proportion to the superiority 
of the soil, kc. in which trees are placed, over the 
natui'al soil of these trees, in the same proportion 
pruning and cultivating the soil ought to be avoid- 
ed, and thinning encouraged. 

" Thirdly, That particular regard should be had 
to the soil and situation, where either larches, or any 
other of the pine tribe, are planted, to remain as the 
final crop. For as the roots of these chiefly run 
along the surface, and as in them the great current 
of the sap is chiefly confined to one channel, that is 
the tmnk, consequently that tribe of trees is pecu- 
liarly liable to injuiT and change, v^iien subjected to 
unnatural agency. 

Foui'thly, That the only way in which oak tim- 
ber of safe quality can be provided for the British 
nay}% is by enclosing, presermig from cattle, and 
properly managing, those royal forests where oak is 
the natural produce of the soil. (Alas 1 there is 
reason to fear, that on some future day the neglect 
of this advice "^rill be regretted). Park oak is very 
frequently much inferior to forest oak in durabi- 
Hty." 



We differ from the author of the Encyclopaedia 
of Gardenmg here, even in limhiei in his assump- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



299 



tion, that pruning is of a corresponding nature vAth 
culture, in increasing the annual circles of the 
wood*. Culture, if judiciously executed, increases 
these annual circles; but common pruning up (which, 
from the general bearing of the language, we suppose 
is meant), nine times out of ten diminishes them, 
and merely tends to extend the stem in length, by 
throwing all the new formation of branches to the 
top of the tree, in place of partly to the sides. Thence 
the tree acquires a slenderer figure, and more deli- 
cate constitution ; and from greater height, and 
being without cover of side-branches, loses more by 
evaporation, and receives less moistm'e from the 
ground, which is dried by the breeze passing along 
under the branches ; the principal process of vege- 
tation, assimilation by the leaves, being reduced 
by the pruning, and carried on at an unnatural 
height, in a colder less genial atmosphere, under a 
diminished supply of nourishment from the ground, 
is consequently less productive of new assimilized 

* The preliminary sentence is very vaguely worded ; we sup- 
pose, " increasing the annual circles," naeans increasing them in 
thickness, not general contents of length multiplied by thickness. 
But even in the latter sense, we hold pruning tends generally to 
diminish the annual circles. 



SOO NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 

matter ; and this smaller quantity requiring to be 
extended along a greater length of stem, the annual 
rings are necessarily thinner. 

We admit that a tree becomes more stemmy by 
being repeatedly pruned up ; — we admit, that, on 
removal of the lower branches, the upper part of the 
stem may have, for a few seasons, larger annual circles ; 
but the annual circles mil be diminished in thick- 
ness in a much greater proportion on the lower part 
of the stem ; — we admit, that the timber, from being 
deposited in a clean lengthened cylinder, becomes far 
more useftd, there being less redundant matter than 
when scattered out into stemmy branches, to which 
disposition, trees in open situation sometimes in- 
cline, especially if not transplanted very young, 
but to which they are nevertheless much more dis- 
posed under the common mode of pruning in an early 
stage of their growth, than when left to themselves ; 
— we admit, that trees, by pruning, raised to length- 
ened stem, and thence performing less assimilation, 
partly compensate for this less assimilation, for some 
time, by making more stem deposit in proportion to 
the other deposit, which extends the parts more im- 
mediately necessary to new formation, — the roots 
and twigs; but the deficiency of productory parts soon 



steuaet's planter's guide. 



301 



reacts to diminish the amount of all the new pro- 
ducts. In tall trees, this greater deposition on the 
stem, in proportion to that on the roots, twigs, and 
leaves, some will think instinctive ; some ^vill refer 
it to an effort of natm'e to supply the necessary 
strength to enable the stem to resist the great strain 
of the winds upon the elevated top. If it take place 
to a greater extent than w^hat arises from the greater 
elongation of the necessary vessels of communication, 
perhaps it is owing to the evaporation or stagnation 
of the sap on the tall exposed stem, and to the con- 
siderable motion or wming of the stem by wind pro- 
moting deposition, evincing one of the deep ba- 
lancings of material cause and effect, or circumstan- 
tial regulation, which mocks the wisdom of the wise. 
We admit, also, that pruning, in the first place, im- 
pedes formation of flower-buds, and will sometimes 
thus prevent exhaustion of trees by seeding, which 
is so prejudicial both to the quality and quantity 
of the new wood deposit ; but the consequent great- 
er length of stem, greater exposure to evaporation, 
constriction of bark, and slenderer connecting tubes 
between leaf and roots, all tend subsequently to pro- 
mote formation of flower-buds, although the removal 
of the lower branches may for a few seasons serve to 



302 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



prevent this. We therefore consider pruning, ex- 
cepting in a very sHght degree, to guide to one lead- 
er, and to remove the sickly, lower, moss-covered 
branches a few seasons earlier than they would have 
dropped off in the common course of decay, to be ge- 
nerally preventive of quantity of wood-deposit, even 
of common marketable timber, in any considerable 
number of years, although pruning to a greater degree 
is often necessary where fine clean timber is required. 

Om' author's next implied assumption, that a tree 
produces best timber in a soil and climate natural 
to it (we suppose by this is meant the soil and climate 
where the kind of tree is naturally found growing), 
is, we think, at least exceedingly hypothetical ; and, 
judging from our facts, incorrect. The natm'al soil 
and climate of a tree, is often very far from being the 
soil and climate most suited to its growth, and is only 
the situation where it has greater 'power of occu- 
pancy, than any other plant whose germ is pre- 
sent. The pines do not cover the pine barrens of 
America, because they prefer such soil, or grow most 
luxuriant in such soil ; they would thrive much bet- 
ter, that is, grow faster, in the natural allotment of 
the oak and the walnut, and also mature to a 
better wood in this deeper richer soil. But the 



1 



steuart's planter's guide. 



303 



oak and the walnut banish them to inferior soil from 
greater power of occupancy in good soil, as the pines, 
in their turn, banish other plants from inferior sands 
— some to still more sterile location, by the same 
means of greater powers of occupancy in these sands. 
One cause considerably affecting the natm*al loca- 
tion of certain kinds of plants is, that only certain 
soils are suited to the preservation of certain seeds, 
throughout the winter or wet season. Thus many 
plants, different from those which natm*ally occupy 
the soil, would feel themselves at home, and would 
beat off intruders, were they once seated. We have 
had indubitable proof in this country, that Scots 
fir, gi'own upon good deep loam, and strong till 
(what our author woidd call the natiu*al soil of the 
oak), is of much better quality, and more resinous, 
than fir grown on poor sand (what he woidd call 
the natm^al soil of the Scots fir), although of more 
rapid growth on the loam than on the sand ; and the 
best Scots fir we have ever seen, of equal age and 
quickness of growth, is gromng upon Carse land 
(clayey allmdum). 

The reason that Scots fir is of better quality, and 
more resinous, on good loam and moist till, than on 
poor siliceous ground, may probably be, that the 
loam contains more oleaginous matter, and other 



304 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS^. 



vegetable products which bear a near relation to re- 
sinous, and which, transmitted upwards from the 
roots, may occasion richer assimilated juices. Men 
fed upon whale or seal blubber, if the digestion is 
good, have much fatty deposit upon the body, and 
the perspu-ed fluid is oil. It is a fact well known to 
every intelligent farmer, that infield or croft land, 
that is land, which, having been earliest cultivated, 
was, of course, the best soil at first, and which has 
also been long highly manm-ed at the cost of the 
outfield, and therefore containing much oleagi- 
nous and other matter, products of organization, 
produces grasses and other vegetables much more 
nutritive to cattle than the outfi^eld, even though 
these vegetables be of the same species, and by rea- 
son of more careful culture of those of the outfield, 
also of the same size of plant. We have also con- 
sidered that light, poor sandy soil, which throws up 
a considerable flush of vegetation in the spring, part- 
ly because it has theii sufficient moisture, but which 
almost entirely gives over producing throughout the 
latter part of the summer, partly because the win- 
ter's moisture is exhausted, may throw out the frame 
or skeleton of a considerable growth, or annual layer 
of wood, in the early part of the season, but may not 
afford sufficient matter for the filling up or matu- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



305 



ring the layer into good dense timber later in the 
season, when the assimilated fluid or sap is believed 
to descend. 

Our author states, that the timber of pruned trees 
must be inferior to that of trees with many side- 
branches, because the consequent contracting and 
twisting of the vessels as they pass the junction of 
the branches and stem, obstruct the descent of the 
sap, thence the timber is better matured, and in firs 
has more of resinous deposit. We admit that the 
resinous deposition is more abundant in knots and in 
some of the parts adjacent ; but the timber is nat 
better throughout. Worm-eating may be observed 
to commence generally in the neighbourhood of 
knots. Although one part of the wood, in con- 
sequence of the obstruction of the knot, be more 
dense and resinous, another part, immediately above 
or below the knot, where the growths are extend- 
ed to fill up the vacant space, where the worm- 
ing commences, is less dense, and of inferior durabi- 
lity, and corruption begun, extends. The knotted 
timber, of course, is very inferior in strength and value 
to the clean. We would refer the longer conti- 
nued flow of sap from maple and birches, which 
have many side-branches, in part, to the lower or 

side-branches commencing to vegetate sooner in the 

u 



306 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS, 



spring than the top of the tree ; this successive com- 
mencement of vegetation prolonging the bleeding. 

Again, in larch, we find that by far the hardest 
and most durable wood is grown upon poor, hard, 
thin tills (that is, thin of vegetable mould upon the 
diluvium), even where the root-rot commences about 
thirty years of age. Now, we ask, is this the natural 
soil of larches ? We have not, however, found larch 
from rich loam, of better quality than from poor sand, 
as we have observed in Scots fir. We also consider 
larch, grown on a proper larch soil — on sound soil and 
subsoil, or sound rock, common in acclivous situa- 
tion — superior in quality to larch of equal quickness 
of growth, raised on rich loam or sand, though not 
equal to larch of slow growth from the above men- 
tioned poor tills. 

W e would ask how our author is enabled to 
assume, as an axiom, that trees produce the best 
timber in their natural locality? We would also 
desire some ?Ydional information to shew in what 
manner pruning up can in any way conduce gene- 
rally, to the increase of the timber, or to the enlarge- 
ment of one-stemmed vegetables. A tree natu- 
rally rises in one stem. It throws out its branches 
in the disposition most favourable to draw the full- 
est benefit from the light and air. It of its own ac- 



steuart's planter's guide. 



307 



cord (that is when man does not meddle), gradually 
raises its pyramidal centre, with proportional lateral 
spread, as high as is befitting, for the fullest expan- 
sion of the individual, under the circumstances of 
its location. Man may mar this beautiful natural 
balance easier than decypher the proximate cause 
he may throw the new deposit of wood in greater 
proportion upon the upper part of the stem, render^ 
ing his beam more suitable from equality of thick- 
ness, and particularly in pines, of cleaner, smaller 
growthed, more durable timber, thence more valu- 
able. But the tree will neither produce the same 
quantity of measurable timber in a considerable 
number of years, nor will it ultimately reach to near- 
ly the same size, nor continue life nearly so long, 
as when left to itself Man's interference is use- 
ful in removing competitors, in giving it lateral 
room for extension, in lraini7ig it skilfully to one 
leader and subordinate equality of feeders, should 
transplanting, early pruning up, or other cause, de- 
stroy the natural regular pyramidal disposition- — not 
in pruning it up, thus reducing it to narrower com- 
pass, and destroying its balance to the locality. 

The use of the infinite seedling varieties in the 
families of plants, even in those in a state of nature, 
differing in luxuriance of growth and local adaptation, 

U 2! 



308 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



seems to be to give one individual (the strongest 
best circumstance-suited) superiority over others of 
its kind around, that it may, by overtopping and 
smothering them, procure room for full extension, 
and thus affording, at the same time, a continual 
selection of the strongest, best circumstance- suited, 
for reproduction. Man's interference, by prevent- 
ing this natural process of selection among plants, 
independent of the wider range of circumstances to 
which he introduces them, has increased the differ- 
ence in varieties, particularly in the more domesti- 
cated kinds ; and even in man himself, the greater 
uniformity, and more general vigour among savage 
tribes, is referrible to nearly similar selecting law — 
the weaker individual sinking under the ill treat- 
ment of the stronger, or under the common hard- 
ship. 

As our author's premises thus appear neither 

self-e\ident, nor supported by facts, it might seem 

unfair, at least it would be superfluous, to proceed 

to the consideration of his conclusions and corolla- 
ries. 



( 309 ) 



VII. Cruickshank's Practical Planter. 

After the preceding parts of this volume had 
gone to press, we received a copy of Cruickshank's 
Practical Planter. We endeavour to give a short 
view of the contents. 

The author commences with some general re- 
marks on the expediency and profit of laying uncul- 
tivated ground under timber, stating, rather too 
strongly, the very superior income derivable from 
forest than from heathy moors, and its advantages to 
the soil. No doubt, a great portion of the higher and 
more rocky part of Scotland is susceptible of little 
other improvement than planting ; and, under tim- 
ber, would produce more than ten times the income 
that it does in pasture ; and the patriotic motive of 
embellishing his country, and enriching his country- 
men, may excuse his having drawn the advantages 
of planting in rather high colours. Mr Cruick- 
shank's statement (as he says, designedly kept ra- 
ther below the truth), that an acre of moor, of ave- 
rage quality, covered with Scotch fir, sixty years 



310 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



planted, would contain 600 trees, value 10s. each, 
differs considerably from what has come within our 
experience. The timber of an acre of Scotch fir, 
sixty years planted in such waste ground as occurs 
in the valley of the Tay, will not average much more 
than one hundred pounds per acre on the spot, and 
laid down on the quay at Newcastle (the place to 
which the greater part of the Scotch fir on the east 
of Scotland is carried), would not produce L. 300 
per acre. 

In order the more to encourage planting, Mr 
Cruickshank runs into a speculative statement of the 
fertilizing influence of planting upon the soil, in ra- 
ther a novel manner, leaving out the particular facts, 
which, he says, had come under his own observation, 
and adducing one as proof, furnished to him by 
another person unnamed. We have often had occa- 
sion to see ground, which had produced a crop of firs, 
brought under tillage without any marked fertility 
beyond the adjacent fields which had been under pro- 
per rotation of cropping, certainly inferior to what had 
lain for the same length of time in natural grass pas- 
ture. There is a particular instance in a slight ris- 
ing ground (diluvial soil) in the Carse of Gowrie, 
where the fields, since the rooting out of the fir-wood, 
have not paid seed and labour in corn, though un- 



cruickshank's practical planter. 311 



der regular manuring and rotation. There are even 
varieties of pine, such as the loblolly, which are known 
to have an influence upon the soil where they grow 
poisonous to succeeding crops. Mr Cruickshank 
himself adverts several times to ground which had 
produced a crop of timber, being boss (hollow) from 
the roots remaining in the soil, and owing to this 
hollowness being unsuited for replanting till the 
roots were removed or consumed. We do not very 
well comprehend this hollowness, and ascribe the un- 
suitableness for replanting immediately, rather to 
exhaustion, or to the formation of something inimi- 
cal to vegetation, than to any hollowness or manner 
of arrangement of the soil. 

As the causes which promote or retard the forma- 
tion, or which tend to dissipate the earth's covering 
of vegetable mould — a covering, on the richness or 
thickness of which the fertility of ground, as well for 
most kinds of naval timber as for other products, is 
so much dependent, though of the greatest import- 
ance — have never, that we are aware of, been gene- 
rally brought into view, we shall devote some space 
to their consideration. 

In the first place, to give a fair specimen of our 
author, we shall transcribe several pages where he 



312 NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 

has treated this subject with some ingenuity, and on 
which he appears to have bestowed considerable care. 

Those who have never had an opportunity of 
seeing old woodlands brought into cultivation, will 
scarce credit what has now been advanced, that the 
soil should be enriched by the production of wood, 
w^hen the experience of ages has proved that it is 
always exhausted by other crops." — " Trees draw their 
nourishment from a much greater depth than any 
of the grasses, roots, or different kinds of grain raised 
by the agriculturist. Most of the latter derive the 
w^hole of their subsistence from the part of the soil 
that lies within a few inches of the surface ; but the 
former, from the superior strength and magnitude 
of their roots, are enabled to penetrate much farther, 
and extract food from the very rock which forms the 
substratum of a great portion, both of our cultiva- 
ted and uncultivated grounds. This, though it 
does not account for lands being positively enriched 
by wood, makes it, at the same time, far less surpriz- 
ing that trees should grow to a large size, and yet 
not exhaust the upper part of the soil in so great 
a degree as most of the crops cultivated by the far- 
mer. 

" There is another circumstance which gives 
ground in wood a great advantage over that in til- 



cruickshank's practical planter, 313 

lage, which is, that the leaves of the trees are sufiPered 
to decay and rot where they fall, and, by this means, 
an annual addition is made to the depth of the ve- 
getable mould. Now, the leaves of a tree may be 
considered as bearing the same proportion to the 
trunk and branches, in respect to the nourishment 
which they require, as the straw of com bears to the 
grain. But the manure which cultivated land re- 
ceives, is, in general, little more than the straw 
which grows on it after it has served for food or lit- 
ter to cattle. Ground in wood, then, actually re- 
ceives, in the annual fall of the leaves, as much en- 
richment as the farmer bestows on his land under 
tillage. 

" Ground employed in agriculture is exposed at 
almost every season of the year to the full action of 
the atmosphere ; and in the drought and heat of 
summer, much of its strength is evaporated. In 
land covered with wood, the case is entirely different, 
as from the shade afforded by the leaves and branches, 
very little evaporation takes place. This, then, 
is another reason that serves in some measure, at 
least, to explain the seemingly paradoxical fact in 
question. For, that evaporation has a very powerful 
tendency to exhaust land, by drawing off and dissi- 
pating the more volatile part of the matter which 



314 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



assists in the process of vegetation, there can be no 
doubt, when we consider that any kind of dung may- 
be deprived of the greater part of its strength by 
being long exposed to a dry atmosphere. Nor is it 
merely by preserving its own original substance that 
land in wood has the advantage of cultivated ground. 
Whatever is extracted from the latter in the form 
of vapour, falls again, when condensed, in the shape 
of rain or dew ; but, instead of descending wholly 
on the same spots from whence it rose, it is, of course, 
diffused over the whole space which the clouds, con- 
taining it, may happen to cover, and woods and 
moors have as good a chance of receiving it on its 
return to the earth, as the ground in tillage. The 
part of it which falls, either on the cultivated fields 
or the naked wastes, may be again evaporated be- 
fore it has time to be productive of any benefit ; but 
the portion of it which the woodlands imbibe is re- 
tained to enrich the soil ; for, the umbrage exclud- 
ing the rays of the sun, there is no possibility of its 
being extracted a second time. Land covered mth 
trees, therefore, while it never loses any thing, re- 
ceives, with every fall of rain, or of dew, a tribute from 
the riches of the cultivated part of the country. The 
advantage derived from this source is greater than will 
be credited by those who are not aware how much 



cruickshank's practical planter. 315 



of the substances proper for vegetable nutriment are 
exhaled from the land in a gaseous state during the 
dry season of the year. 

" But the principal way in which wood becomes 
instrumental in enriching land still remains to be no- 
ticed. When trees attain a certain size, they attract 
multitudes of birds, which build their nests and seek 
shelter among the branches. The dung of these ani- 
mals is the very richest kind of manure which can 
be applied to land, and possesses, at least, three 
times the strength of that commonly used in agri- 
culture. The quantity of it produced during the 
long series of years which trees require to reach ma- 
turity is, especially where large colonies of crows take 
up their abode, very considerable, and must have a 
powerful influence in improving and fertilizing the 
soil. 

" I ought not to omit here to mention, among the 
causes why ground is improved by producing wood 
— the minuteness into which its particles are divided 
by the roots and their fibres. On taking up a young 
tree, or even a gooseberry bush, and shaking the 
earth from its roots, we find the mould that falls 
from it as completely reduced to powder, as if it had 
been passed through a fine sieve. Now, the fact 

2 



316 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



seems undoubted, that land is much increased in fer- 
tility by being brought to this state." 

Whether a greater accumulation of vegetable 
mould or enriching of the soil, would take place un- 
der a system of rotation of crops, stirring of the 
ground, and manuring, or under Nature's o^vn sys- 
tem of management — whether, under forest, or im- 
der the rich leafy grasses depastured by cattle, is a 
question of the greatest intricacy, and only admits 
of local decision, being dependent upon climate, soil, 
and circumstance. From our author's statements, it 
would appear that his mind had only ranged along 
the surface of the subject. He has not taken into 
account the quantity of root which herbaceous vege- 
tables annually leave in the ground — ^in some kinds 
little inferior in bulk to the portion above ground. 
We have traced oat and wheat roots running down 
into clay five and six feet (as deep as those of many 
kinds of trees), extremely numerous, and fine as hu- 
man hair. He seems not aware that the bulk of 
yearly vegetable produce is much increased by cul- 
ture, alternate cropping, and extraneous manm*e, such 
as lime, mixtm-e of earths, sea-ware, bones. He has 
not considered that the annual dead roots within the 
soil, and the vegetable and animal manure, and the 



CRUrCKSHANK'S PRACTICAL PLANTER. 317 



sward and the stubble ploughed down, conduce much 
more to enrich and thicken the soil than the tree 
leaves, blown about by the winds, and nearly dissipa- 
ted into air, before the residuum fixes as a part of the 
soil ; and also that ploughing is often beneficial to 
shallow soils, by mixing the thin covering of mould 
with the pure earth of the subsoil, — the vegetable soil- 
matter, from consequent deeper cover, and more equa- 
ble moisture, not losing so much by evaporation, and 
at the same time being more efficacious as nutriment 
to the vegetation. He seems unacquainted with the 
fact, that the matter of wood and tree-leaves, espe- 
cially of the resinous kinds, and those containing 
much tannin, if not actually pernicious, have very lit- 
tle fertilizing effect — saw-dust has generally no ma- 
nuring influence, but turns into peat. He also appears 
to be ignorant, that some kinds of vegetables draw 
more from the air and water, and others more from 
the earth ; and, especially, that vegetables in a moist 
climate, depastured or cut before maturity, exhaust 
the soil much less than when allowed to seed. In 
Britain, soils, particularly those of good quality, be- 
come richer, and thicken more under pasturage, than 
under any other common vegetation. This is owing 
to the manuring of the cattle— to the natural grasses 
not being what is termed scoiu-ging plants, especially 



318 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



when not allowed to seed — to the complete cover of 
the ground by the leaves — to the quantity of root 
which dies annually — and to the mould thrown up 
by the red earth-worm, renovating the surface, and 
partly covering the moss and decayed leaves and old 
bulbs. It is a cmious fact, that, under pasturage, 
fertility should increase in Britain and diminish in 
Australia. An uncropt deep cover of grass appears 
necessary to shelter the vegetable soil-matter during 
the arid heat, and even to protect the roots from 
being burned out, in the latter country. And the 
manure of cattle, instead of being covered by the 
luxuriant herbage before it is desiccated, and enrich- 
ing the soil as in England, is, in New South Wales, 
under the powerful sun and arid air, quickly reduced 
to dust and dissipated. 

The fertility of soils may also be quickly increased, 
and the vegetable cover thickened almost to any ex- 
tent under tillage, by first rearing a quantity of large 
growing annual vegetables, and when nearly full ex- 
tended, burying this green vegetable produce in drills, 
resowing the ground immediately with another fast 
growing kind, and proceeding thus continuedly. 

The influence of birds in enriching forest soil, is 
exceedingly limited, and is chiefly perceptible, not 
in continued forest, but in some detached portions or 



CRUICKSHANK'S PRACTICAL TLANTER. 319 



clumps of park trees, which colonies of rooks or other 
large birds frequent. 

Of the natural grass which Mr Cruickshank states 
succeeds in woods to the original heaths, and which 
he describes as affording such excellent tender food 
for cattle, we can only say, that either the woods 
must have been unprofitably thin, and the trees 
naked, or that he has completely mistaken the qua- 
lity of the herbage. The grass of woods is unheal- 
thy food for cattle, and generally not relished, be- 
ing rendered unpalatable and noxious by the resinous 
and bitter droppings from the tree leaves, and by 
the bitter and nauseous juices generated in the soil by 
the roots of trees, which the herbage roots draw up. 
In dry soils, there is sometimes an accumulation of 
whitish substance within the ground, around the 
roots of trees, which some refer to excrementitious 
deposit but which, we think, is rather the produce 
of a subterraneous vegetable, of the nature of a 
fungus or mould. Wherever this has increased to 
a considerable extent, we beheve old forest ground 
will be found of great fertility. 

* It is a theory of Mr Sheriff, Mungo's Wells, that all plants 
have excrementitious deposit from the roots, the deposit from one 
kind affording a good manure to another kind. Thence the ad- 
vantage of mixed grasses and legumes in pastures, and of the 
rotation of different kimls of crops. 



320 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



The friability and minute division of the soil to 
which Mr Cruickshanks refers, existing around the 
bulbs of trees, can only be of utility where the soil is 
too adhesive. Light soil is often injm-ed by being 
cropped by plants which tend greatly to reduce ad- 
hesion — what the farmer styles being diiven : be- 
sides, all luxuriant annual crops render adhesive soils 
friable ; and, remaining for a time under natural 
grass, gives what is termed a turfiness to soils, which 
continues for several years, and which renders both 
adhesive and light soils more productive, preventing 
the adhesive from sinking down into mortar under 
cultivation, and the light from losing all adhesion or 
granular arrangement. 

There is, no doubt, a disposition to accumulate 
vegetable deposit in forests, from the moistness, cool- 
ness of the ground, and shade, not tending so much 
as the sunshine and exposure of open country to dis- 
sipate or volatilize the residuum of the decayed 
leaves and roots. In a lower latitude, beyond the 
line of peat formation, this will have some influence 
to increase the depth and richness of the vegetable 
mould ; but, in Scotland, where cold till bottom pre- 
vails, more injury will result from forest tending to 
throw the debri of vegetation into combinations un- 
favourable to the nourishment of plants (such as peat 



cruickshank's practical planter. 



321 



and compounds in which iron forms a part), than ad- 
vantage, from the dead vegetable matter not being 
so much dissipated by aration and exposure to the 
sun. We have often observed the effect of remain- 
ing for a length of time in a state of considerable 
dryness, dissipating the vegetable part of the soil, in 
some of the old infield clays, where the crown of the 
large ridges are raised up a foot or two above the ori- 
ginal sm'face- level. At the crown of the ridge, the 
vegetable clay mould often only extends down about 
nine inches from the surface, the subsoil immediate- 
ly under being nearly void of vegetable matter, and 
extremely close tenacious clay, — a solid foot of it, 
though of equal moistness, being nearly double the 
weight of the same bulk of the vegetable clay mould 
above it. From this clay, almost purely mineral, 
being a little above the original surface-level, there 
can be no doubt, that at one time it consisted of the 
vegetable surface mould of the country, heaped up 
by repeated ploughings, and that it has gradually 
lost the vegetable part. The depth of vegetable soil, 
near the furrows of the ridges, is generally found to 
be greater than at the ridge crown. 

The same dissipation of vegetable matter takes 
place when a ditch has been dug in clay ground, and 

X 



322 NdTICES OF AUTHOKS. 

the excavated earth thrown up to form a dike on 
one side. On removal of the dike, the original sur- 
face, which no doubt, at the time the dike was 
formed, consisted of vegetable clay mould similar to 
the surface around, is always found to be close, heavy, 
poor clay, containing little or no carbonaceous or 
vegetable matter. In this case, from the draining 
effect of the ditch, the original surface under the 
dike must have been drier than the subsoil of the 
crowns of the ridges. 

The difference of depth and richness of vegetable 
moidd, may nearly always be referred to existing 
causes, such as the original surface (diluvium, or de- 
cayed rock), being a combination of earths favourable 
to vegetation ; occupying a genial situation ; being 
favourably placed with regard to moisture, that is, less 
or more moist, according as the original surface has 
been clayey or sandy, or open or close bottomed ; and 
is in no way connected with those flood torrents to 
which we owe the diluvium deposits themselves — 
tills, sand and gravel, in which we have never found 
any vegetable matter, excepting in the coaly or mi- 
neralized state. 

Unless in the case of alluvium, or of drift sand, 
or where surface earth has been rolled down from 



CRUICKSHANK'S PllACTICAL PLANTER. 323 

heights, or heen forced by man^, soil is seldom found 
to exceed 6 feet in depth, and that only in warm 
moist situations, propitious to vegetation. In Scot- 
land we never have seen it exceed 3 or 4 feet in 
depth where its accumulation had not been aided by 
the above causes. The most common depth is from 
6 inches to 2 feet ; but, in many of our sterile dis- 
tricts, the surface hardly deserves the name of mould, 
containing very little vegetable matter, or that mat- 
ter being unavailable from the presence of tannin. 

It is a well known fact, that summer- fallowing al- 
ways dissipates a portion of the vegetable matter in 
the soil, although it may, at the same time, tend to 
fertility, especially in adhesive soils, and where the 
climate is not very arid and warm, overbalancing the 
loss from dissipation by the advantage resulting from 
aeration and absorption of gases and heat, and the 
sun's rays ; by the mechanical disposition and com- 
minution from being thoroughly dried and then moist- 
ened ; and, probably, by the formation of salts, stimu- 

* Vegetable soil is sometimes buried deep under volcanic mud, 
sand, and ashes, or mixed with the subsoil by earthquakes. In some 
districts of South America, the country, from being fertile, has 
been recently reduced to sterility, by the vegetable mould being 
so much scattered through the subsoil by repeated upheavings and 
tossings about by earthquakes, as to be out of the reach of plants. 

X 2 



324 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



lative to vegetation ; or, as it has been thought, by 
the resting for a season. In the case of any tannin 
or inert vegetable matter existing in the soil, the 
heat and drying -^^ill tend to reduce these to a con- 
dition suitable for vegetable food. In the West In- 
dies, when a summer fallowing is resorted to in order 
to get clear of the weeds, the fertility of the ground is 
considerably lessened, from the evaporation or burn- 
ing out of the putrescent or carbonaceous matter. 
Were the fallo^^ing continued for several succes- 
sive seasons, there is no doubt that the whole matter, 
which, combined with earth, forms mould, would be 
dissipated. 

About a c^ntmy ago, it was the practice, in our 
neighbourhood (an alluvial clay district), to build up 
the soil of the fallow division, furrow deep, into thin 
dikes, or walls, about 5 feet high. This was done 
in early summer. After being dried and aerated by 
the summer's drought, the dikes were levelled do^Mi 
in the autumn and sown with wheat. This system 
was considered so fertilizing as to counterbalance 
the labour and the loss of a crop. 

Om' own practice has proven that there is scarcely 
any manm-e more effective for one crop, particularly 
of spring sowing, than the clay of old mud walls of 



cruickshank's practical planter. 325 



houses, though applied in no larger quantity than is 
usually given of farm-yard manure, and though the 
clay appear quite free from vegetable matter. It is 
improbable that the resting of the clay from produc- 
tion could have any effect to occasion this fertility, 
^Ve considered it to arise chiefly from a quantity of 
nitre ha^dng been formed in, or deposited about, the 
walls from their long proximity to animal effluvia 
and to atmospheric air. The fertilizing effect of the 
dike system of summer-fallow, and even of the pre- 
sent system, may also depend in part on the forma- 
tion of nitre, well known to be a powerful manure or 
stimulant in this country. In dry seasons we have 
scraped together handfuls of salts, partly nitre, from 
the exposed surface of clay-banks. Should a consi- 
derable part of the fertilizing effect of fallowing arise 
from the formation of nitre, the application of lime 
and putrescent manures to fallows, in the early part 
of summer, will be advantageous, as the presence of 
both are favoiu-able to the formation of nitre. Of 
course, the utility of encouraging the formation * of 

* There is a deposition from the atmosphere of saline matter 
going on at the surface of the earth, either evaporated from the 
ocean, and falling with the rain and dews, or formed hy gaseous 
combinations — most probably both. la countries where the quan- 
tity of rain is insufficient to wash this saline accumulation away 
into the ocean as fast as it is formed, it increases to such a degree 



326 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



nitre or other salts, combinations of potassa or of 
soda, will depend on the climate, whether much or 
little rain falls, and whether the rain water goes off 
by evaporation or by drainage. In the case of little 
rain, or the rain-water being nearly all evaporated, 
nitre and other salts will accumulate in the soil, so 
as, from their excess, to be injmious to vegetation ; 
whereas, should much rain fall, or the rain-water be 
chiefly carried off by drainage, vegetation may lan- 
guish from deficiency of these salts, there being less 
deposition of the salts, or the salts as they form be- 
ing w^ashed away. The same will apply to the gra- 
minivorous animals. Sea- salt, perhaps also nitre and 
other salts, will be serviceable in a moist country, or 
far from the sea, where the plants and v/ater contain 
little saline matter, and probably pernicious in a dry 
climate, where the plants and water generally con- 
tain much saline matter. 

In the portion of the earth from the Atlantic 
eastvv^ard, through Numidia, Libya, Eygpt, Nubia, 
Arabia, Persia, as far as the Indus, from the enor- 
mous ruins, and other vestiges of dense population, 
as well as from ancient records, there must have ex- 

as almost to prevent vegetation, only a few of what are termed 
saline plants appearing. This saline accumulation in warm dry- 
countries, bears considerable analogy to tannin deposit in cold 
coutnries. 



cruickshank's practical planter. 327 



isted a considerable depth of vegetable mould cover- 
ing, where now little is left but pure sand, baked 
clay, bare rock, and saline encrustations. From the 
footing which an industrious and brave nation has 
recently so honourably acquired in this territory, may 
we not hope that the tide of arid sterility, dissipat- 
ing the vegetable covering, will be tmiied, and that 
through Em*opean enterprize and mechanical science, 
by means of steam and wind power, a system of irri* 
gation will be introduced which will reanimate this 
dead portion of the earth — spreading forth again 
perpetual spring, stremng the desert all over with 
herbs, and fruits, and flowers, converting the sirocco 
into a breeze loaded with fragrance, and reproducing, 
in profusion, all the delights of the gardens of Hes- 
perus ? From the carbonaceous or soil-matter being 
burned out, and from the quantity of saline deposit, 
a very considerable time will, however, elapse before 
production be generally extended, and the desert so 
far circumscribed, and the ground cooled so much, as 
to condense a sufficiency of rain and dew, that a new 
vegetable mould cover may be formed. 

But to return from om- wide excursion, we observe, 
that Mr Cruickshank states, page 25, " that any 
land that is proper for Scots fir will be found to an- 
swer well with the larch." This observation, with 



328 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



what he says of larch being heavier iu propor- 
tion to its bulk" than Scots fir, and that " spruce is 
very easily wrought, and tries the carpenter's tools 
less than any other kind of wood used in building," 
w^ould lead us to suspect that oui' author has had a 
very limited acquaintance mth his subject. A num- 
ber of different soils will produce large Scots fir where 
larches will be generally rotted and hollow in the 
heart, by twenty years of age *. This ignorance of 
om* author is the more glaring, as it is coupled with 

* The matured timber of the larch, in some cases, remains for 
a considerable time stained before the rot proceeds rapidly; in 
other cases, the rot makes quick progress ; in this rapid decompo- 
sition, certam kinds of fungi assist greatly. When once seated, 
they seem to form a putrid atmosphere or tainted circle around 
them, either by their living exhalations, or corrupt emanations when 
dead, which is poisonous to the less vital parts of superior life, and 
also expedites the commencement of decay in sound dead orga- 
nic matter, such as timber, thus furthering the decomposition so 
far as to render it suitable food for their foul appetite, and paving 
the way to their further progress. 

How their seeds enter into the heart of a growing tree having 
no external rottenness, is not very obvious^ unless they are inhal- 
ed or imbibed by the root tendrils : from the resemblance which 
the growth of some of them has to fermentation, it is not even 
very improbable that the animalcules of supposed molecular or 
inferior life, have, of themselves, a disposition to unite into some 
of these aggregates without the presence of any disposing germ. 

The modifications of material attractions, by the varied germs of 
superior life — the fixity of some of these deposites after life is gone 
— the resolution of these into inferior animalcular, or even molecu- 



cruickshakk's practical planter. 329 



some severe strictures on planters in general for their 
ignorance of the proper location of trees. He says, 
" Scots fir, on soils of a fertile character, is short 
lived, and the excellence of its timher is in proportion 
to the slowness of its growth." This is erroneous. 
We would rather say it is short-lived in bad soil : 
IMemel fir (Pinus sylvestris), is of very superior qua- 
lity, very large growthed, and of great age. He also 
asserts " elm prefers a strong clay soil, and it is per- 
haps impossible to bring this tree to the utmost size 
it is capable of attaining in land of a different qua- 
lity," This is also erroneous. We have seen very 
beautiful large Scots elms grubbed out from a soil 
of pure gravel, and we can shov,^ thousands of instances 
where Scots elms do not thrive well in clay — in rich 
as well as poor clay. We are aware that in every vo- 
lume treating of numerous facts, such as Mr Cruick- 
shank's, many inaccuracies may always be picked out, 
but the above are rather too prominent. 

Mr Cruickshank censiues the practice of covering 
fir seeds one-half inch deep in England, referring the 

lar, life — and the instrumentality of zoophytes of the lower order of 
organization, in hastening this decomposition by the balancing of 
the attractions of this secondary life, afford a wide field for inves- 
tigation. Those uncouth sportings of nature quickly appear and 
disappear as material spectres, feeding on corruption^ and mock- 
ing at primary life. 



330 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



demand there for Scots plants to the seeds being thus 
buried in place of being sown, and states that they 
should only be covered one-fourth of an inch, as is the 
practice in Aberdeenshire. He also reprehends the 
author of the Encyclopaedia of Gardening, on account 
of some directions which this author has given, to 
form, by forcing, a fine friable soil, suitable for the 
delicate seeds of trees, where this does not previously 
exist. Now, we should consider that the difference of 
climate between the neighbourhood of London and 
Aberdeen would require a difference of cover nearly 
equal to this ; and that forcing a friable earth for 
seed-beds was absolutely necessary, in the very adhe- 
sive clays around London, and so general in the 
more recent formations of the south and middle of 
England, although superfluous in the north of Scot- 
land, where sandy or light soil is sufficiently abun- 
dant. Seeds, under a moist cloudy atmosphere, will 
vegetate without cover at all ; but in situations where 
the air is arid in spring, with much sunshine, a cover- 
ing of some depth is necessary, and that covering, 
where the rudiments of the plant spring out weak 
and delicate, is required to be soft and friable, a good 
absorber and retainer of moisture, and not disposed 
to run together with rain, or crack with drought. 
Mr Cruickshank gives an account of our different 



cruickshank's practical planter. 



331 



forest trees, neither very accurate nor interesting, 
but, luckily, not very tedious. He then proceeds to 
treat of nursery, sowing, transplanting, and choosing 
of plants, where many sensible, though some of them 
common-place, observations occur, of much use to the 
generality of planters. His views, however, of the pro- 
per manner of planting seedlings in the nursery, are 
defective. The best method of planting these — nei- 
ther by laying, nor by dibbling — is first to stretch the 
line and make a furrow, level in the bottom, as broad 
as the roots may stretch, with the inner side straight 
and steep. One person then holds the plant erect 
in its berth, from two to four inches from the perpen- 
dicular side, according to the general size of the ho- 
rizontal roots, so that the fibres may be regularly 
spread ; and another person throws on the earth from 
the place of the next furrow ; the placer of the plants 
footing the earth to the roots as he proceeds, or af- 
ter the row is completed. 

The following observations of Mr Cruickshank 
are worthy the attention of planters : 

" Proprietors should not attempt to raise seedlings, 
but pm'chase them from professional nurserymen, 
and place them in a succession nursery of their own. 
A proprietor may, in general, purchase seedlings 
much cheaper than he can raise them ; while the case 



SS2 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



is just the reverse with regard to plants of a greater 
age. In raising seedhngs, much skill and attention 
is requisite, which the professional man can always 
command at a much more reasonable rate than the 
proprietor. In the treatment of plants after they 
are removed from the seed-bed, the rent of the ground 
is the chief source of expense, as any common garde- 
ner will he able to manage them." 

" A general, and a very gross error, in purchasing 
plants, is to consider those as best which are the 
largest in proportion to their age. This absurd prin- 
ciple of selection makes those nurseries most fre- 
quented by customers which least deserve to be so, 
such, namely, as are situated in the richest soils, sur- 
rounded by the closest shelter, and stimulated by the 
greatest quantities of manure. It is necessary, no 
doubt, that plants should be of a size to suit them to 
the situations for which they are intended ; but if 
they have attained this size sooner than the due 
time by being forced, they are in the worst state ima- 
ginable for growing in a barren moor, or on the 
bleak side of a mountain." 

Plants are often much injured, though raised 
sufficiently hardy in other respects, by being too 
much crowded in the nursery line." — " The surest 
method that I know of enabling those who have little 



cruickshank's practical planter. 



333 



experience, to ascertain whether plants, in the seed- 
bed, are too much crowded or not, is to compare such 
as grow on the verge of the alley with those in the 
interior. If the girt of the latter he equal, or nearly 
so, to that of the former, the plants have sufficient 
room." — " When plants have stood for several years 
in nursery lines, if they are too much crowded, many 
of their lower branches will be sickly or withered, or 
the stems will be entirely devoid of branches, ex- 
cepting within a few inches of the top. This is a 
mark so plain that no one can mistake. 

" Care should be taken not to purchase plants 
which betray symptoms of disease. When larches 
not more than three years old cast the whole, or 
even the greater part, of their leaves, just when the 
winter commences, it is a sure sign that they are in 
an unhealthy state, and that many of them will die 
in the course of next season ; for, under this age, the 
larch should retain a considerable quantity of its old 
leaves till spring." — " There is also a minute white 
insect, which is fatal to the larch in plantations, that 
sometimes attacks it in the nursery after it enters 
its second year ; on this account, it is proper to ex- 
amine the larch plants the summer previous to pur- 
chasing them." — " Scots fir may be regarded as sick- 
ly, when the points of the leaves become withered, or 



334 



NOTICES OF AUTHOES. 



when they change their naturally dark colours into 
a faint yellowish green. Any vestige of withering 
on the spruce or silver fir, is a sure prognostication 
of approaching decay. Any kind of fir which has 
lost its leader may he considered useless. 

" When plants are packed up in mats for the con- 
veniency of carriage, strict orders should he given 
that those which carry their leaves in winter he 
taken up when they are entirely free from moisture. 
If they he pulled wet, they will heat and get mouldy 
in the packages. In the course of a few days good 
plants are often spoiled in this manner." 

Mr Cruickshank does not swerve from the com- 
mon foolish system, of inculcating a determinate 
character of soil as generally necessary for each kind 
of tree. We are angry with the dulness of the win- 
ters on location of timher ; they will not comprehend 
that a tree has two ends, hy hoth of which it draws 
moistm'e, though from different elements, earth and 
air. The dullest clown is sensible he requires to 
drink more under an arid sun than under a drizzling 
rain. The same holds of trees ; if there he little 
evaporation of moistm-e from the leaves, and if the 
leaves, instead of exhaling, can frequently even im- 
bibe water, from the plant occupying an elevated si- 
tuation, where the air the greater part of the season 



cruickshank's practical planter. SS5 



is cool, and nearly surcliargecl with moisture, the 
most porous, driest soil (sufficiently damp in such a 
situation), will generally be the most suitable ; and 
trees of eveiy kind will prosper in sands, in which, 
tinder a day atmosphere, they would not have sur- 
vived one summer ; whereas in arid, warm, low 
country, the deepest, dampest loams and clays are 
generally the best suited for timber, provided water 
does not stagnate. And, besides, we have found va- 
rieties of the same kind or species of tree, so??ie of 
them adapted to pi^osper in dry air and soil, and 
others in moist air and soil. Although the above 
causes prevent a positive hmitation of certain kinds 
of trees to certain soils, yet there are some which 
have superior adaptation to moist soils and others to 
dry ; some whose roots, from their fibrous soft cha- 
racter, can only spread luxuriantly on light, soft, or 
mossy soils, and others, whose roots have powder to 
permeate the stiffest and most obdurate. The above 
explanations \^ill account for much of the incon- 
gruity which we find in authors regarding the adap- 
tation of certain kinds of timber to certain soils. 

In describing the soils suitable for different 
kinds of trees, INIr Cruickshank mentions, that 
" the Scots fir will thrive in very barren situations, 
provided the soil be dry. Dryness is, in fact, the 



336 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



most indispensable requisite in order to produce a 
good crop of Scots fir, and it is never advisable to 
plant this tree in veiy moist ground, or where drain- 
ing is necessary to cany off the smface water." — 
" Stiff land seems decidedly hostile to its growth." 
— " On a deep rich soil it grows very fast, attains a 
large size, and soon decays. In these cuxumstances, 
its wood is spong}', and of inferior value." — " The 
most important precept that can be delivered vdth 
regard to this tree, is never to plant it either in wet 
or vei^y 5^/^ land." 

" The larch is also a veiy hardy plant, and is sure 
to thrive on any land that will answer for the Scots 
fir. It is, however, less delicate in its choice of soil 
than the latter, and -will grow in a much greater 
degree of moisture." — This tree is one of the sm'est 
growers we have in barren soils." 

" The spruce is as partial to moist land as the 
Scots fir is to dry ; and in this particular these two 
species stand directly opposed to one another." — 
Spruce may indeed appear to thrive in a dry situa- 
tion for a few years ; but by the time it reaches ten 
or twelve feet in height, its lower branches will de- 
cay, and after that period it will make little progress, 
but remain even a cumberer of the soil." — " Spruce 
seems to be most partial to a cold stiff clay : it is. 



cruickshank's practical planter. 337 



however, a very hardy plant, and not very nice in its 
choice of soil, pro^sdded it have enough of sap." — " I 
do not mean such as is deluged in winter with stag- 
nant water. This is incompatible with the growth 
of wood of every kind." — " The silver fir and balm 
of Gilead will answer in the same kinds of land as 
the spruce."—" They, together with the spruce, are 
invaluable for where the soil is deep peat-moss, as 
neither the Scots fir nor the larch will thrive in it." 

There is in the above quotations, in common with 
many of our opinions (formed hastily upon a too 
partial acquaintance with facts), a considerable pro- 
portion both of truth and error. Such sweeping asser- 
tions will, however, generally command the assent 
and admiration of the reader. From the enjoyment 
the mind has in forming clear conceptions and reach- 
ing conclusions, from its love of order, and from 
its disposition to cling to every thing like definite, 
unfluctuating arrangement, to assist its limited powers 
of comprehension, we are led away by the author, who 
reduces the character of natural phenomena to great 
simplicity, although in reality exceedingly compli- 
cated. 

Scots fir, it is true, has rather a superior adaptation 
to dry, sharp, and rocky soils ; yet there are many 

Y 



338 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



situations of poor wet till and clay, and even peat- 
moss ground, where it will be advantageous to plant 
Scots fir in preference to any other kind of timber; 
for this plain reason, that no other kind will thrive 
so well in those cold moist moors. Both I^arix and 
Abies have a much narrower range of adaptation than 
Pinus sylvestris. Larch will not thrive in the dead 
sand nor till flats of the low country, often not in 
the dead sand and till of rising grounds, in both of 
which the Scots fir, if allowed sufficient room for 
side branching, will reach good-sized timber. There 
is a considerable formation of peat-moss near Dun- 
more, in which the Scots fir has shown superior adap- 
tation to the Norway spruce. We have also seen, 
in the moss of Balgowan, Perthshire, fine thriving 
Scots firs, many of them two feet in diameter, grow- 
ing in very moist, rich, mossy loam, — so moist, that 
although in a rather protected situation, a number 
of the trees, while young, had been laid on their sides 
by the wind, and were growing luxuriantly in the 
form of a quadrant of a circle, with as much as six 
and eight feet of the stem upon the level ground, 
affording a curve sufficient to reach from the keel of 
a vessel to the deck at midships. We examined the 
timber of several of these, and found it superior to 
the average of home P. sylvestris. The superior quali- 



cruickshank's puactical planter. 339 



ty of the timber may be ascribed to the richness and 
moisture of the soil, and to the full branching of 
the trees from their rather open arrangement. There 
is nothing which conduces so much to the good qua- 
lity of Scots fir as exposiu'e. Under the great shelter 
of the close 'planted woods, the timber is soft and 
porous, without much resin ; but under great expo- 
sure, especially to dry air, the timber is hard, close, 
and resinous. This is, however, considerably modified 
by the soil. 

The quality of natural grown timber is considered 
superior to the planted. Is this occasioned by the 
former having generally more branches and leaves in 
proportion to the length of the stem, and being more 
exposed than the latter ? Can root fracture at trans- 
planting, or the kiln-drying of the cones, have any 
influence to diminish the strength of the fibre or 
quantity of resinous deposit ? We have been told 
by several old people, in the neighbourhood of 
Dunsinane, that Scots fir plants, brought more than 
half a century ago from Mar Forest to Dunsinane 
W ood, succeeded much better than some which had 
been procured from nurseries, and also produced bet- 
ter timber. 

Clay is assuredly not the proper soil for spruce 
and silver fir ; their exceedingly numerous, soft, fi- 
brous, moss-like rootlets, require an easy damp soil. 

Y 21 



840 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



We have tried a number of kinds of abies, in both 
dry and moist clay, and have found they did not 
grow so luxuriantly (thrive so well) as Scots fir or 
larch. The silver fir shewed superior adaptation to 
any of the other kinds of abies. 

Almost in every instance where we have seen the 
silver fir and Norway spruce (by far the best spruce 
for Scotland) growing together, the former was the 
superior. The timber, in the lower part of the stem, 
is harder than that of the spruce, but freer and more 
porous in the upper part. It is probable that the 
silver fir will not thrive in so elevated or so moist a 
situation as the spruce, but in all favourable soils it 
merits a preference. 

We now come to a very important part of our 
author's volume— an account of the most economi- 
cal, and, as he says, the most STiccessful, mode of 
planting moors and bleak exposed mountains, but 
which is brought forward by him under no limita- 
tion to place. To the invention of this method, our 
author lays no claim ; he merely describes the prac- 
tice in a clear and judicious manner. 

" The most proper time for removing firs from 
the nursery to waste land, is when they are two 
years old." — " The experience I have had enables 
me to say, with as much confidence as I can speak on 



cruickshank's practical planter. 341 



any point whatever, that the longer any fir is al- 
lowed to remain in the nursery after it has attained 
two years' growth, so much the less chance is there 
of its success when removed to its final destination." 
— " At this period (two years' growth) larches may 
be obtained transplanted, as it is customary to 
put considerable numbers of them out into nursery- 
lines when they are one year old. Such plants have 
better roots than those that have remained in the 
seed-bed till they are of the same age ; but as their 
price is considerably higher than that of the latter, 
it is somewhat doubtful whether they are so much 
superior in quality as to compensate for the greater 
expense. At all events, healthy larches from the 
seed-bed have never failed to give satisfaction when 
properly planted in soil suitable for them. Other 
species of fir are scarce ever transplanted in the nur- 
sery till they are two years old, so of this age there 
is no choice left but to take them from the seed- 
bed." — " Birch, alder, and mountain ash, succeed 
well when removed from the nursery in their second 
year." — " Beech and plane do not succeed well un- 
less they have stood some time (two years at least) 
in nursery lines, after having been removed from the 
seed-bed." 

" The pitting system of planting should be adopt- 



342 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



ed in every instance in which the plants exceed two 
years old. 

" The expense of planting was much reduced by 
the introduction, about a century ago, of the notch- 
ing system. Of this there are two varieties, the 
oldest of which may be described as follows : — One 
person makes a notch in the ground, or rather two 
notches crossing each other, with a common spade, 
raising the sod by bending down the handle of the 
instrument, till the notch become vnde enough to 
receive the roots of the plant. An assistant, ^^ith 
a bundle of trees, slips the root of one into the aper- 
tui'e thus made for its reception. The spade is then 
withdrawn, and the closing of the sod on the root is 
assisted by a smart blow of the heel of the planter. 
In this w^ay two persons, well practised in the work, 
wdll put into the ground between five hundred and 
a thousand per day. 

" This system was much simplified about fifty 
years ago, and rendered so expeditious, that it seems 
in vain to look for its receiving any further improve- 
ment. Instead of the spade, an instrument of near- 
ly the same shape, but so small that it can be wrought 
with one hand as easily as a common garden-dibble, 
was introduced, and is now known by the name of 
the Planting-iron. With this, a notch is made in 



cruickshank's practical planter. 343 

the ground to receive the root ; and omng to the 
portability of the tool, and its occupying but one of 
the hands, the person that works it requires no as- 
sistant, but, carrying a parcel of plants in a wallet 
before him, he singles out one with his left hand, 
inserts it in the notch, withdraws the implement, 
fixes the plant with his heel, and proceeds with as 
much apparent ease as if he were performing the 
operation in the soft ground of the nursery. In this 
way of planting, the workman goes forward in such 
a line as he can judge of by his eye ; and as it is 
extremely difficult to see the plants after they are 
put in, especially if the heath is pretty long, he sets 
up poles in the first line, to enable him to keep the 
second a due distance from it ; and in planting the 
last mentioned, he removes these poles into it as he 
comes opposite to them, which then serve as his 
guide in planting the third ; and thus he proceeds 
till he cover the whole ground. The lines thus 
formed are necessarily so zig-zag, that when the 
trees grow up, they do not seem to have been plant- 
ed in rows. 

" In this way, an expert workman vdll plant be- 
tween three and four thousand young plants a-day, 
and do it so perfectly, that the fault will not be his 
if a single individual of the whole number fail to 



344 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



grow. I have assisted in planting, according to this 
plan, upwards of three thousand acres in Aherdeen- 
shire ; and, in all that extent, I know not of a single 
instance of failure, where the plants were in a 
healthy state when put into the ground, of the pro- 
per age and varieties, and suitable for the soil." 

" To plant well and expeditiously in this way, 
requires considerable dexterity on the part of the 
workman ; and where raw hands are employed, it 
will be necessary to have some person to teach and 
superintend them." 

Mr Cruickshank disposes of the old cross system 
of slit planting by the spade, with very little cere- 
mony ; as it would almost seem, without being able 
to appreciate its merits. It is, in fact, a totally dif- 
ferent mode of planting from that by the flat dib- 
ble-planter or planting-iron, and is well adapted for 
all plants with horizontal roots, and which have stood 
from one to three years in the nursery line. By 
first striking the spade in perpendicularly, as deep 
as the turf-soil, by again striking it in at right 
angles to the end of the first cut, in the form of 
a T, and bending back the spade, the turf-soil 
is raised from a horizontal bed, and the first cut 
opened so wide as to admit the root, which insert- 



cruickshank's practical planter. 345 



ed and drawn a little along by an experienced 
hand, and well tramped down, has its rootlets dis- 
posed over the horizontal bottom almost as regular- 
ly and well adjusted for growing, as can be done by 
pit-planting. This practice is sometimes performed 
singly, a clever workman managing the spade with 
one hand and the plants with the other, and insert- 
ing 1000 each day. The plants suited for this sys- 
tem are fully double the size of those suited for the 
flat-dibble system, and are purchased at about one 
half more price, thus enhancing the cost of plant- 
ing to 1, 10s. or £ 2 per acre ; but in many si- 
tuations, especially where the herbage grows freely, 
affording an earlier growth, and more regular suc- 
cess, sufficient to balance the greater expense ten 
times over. 

Although the cross-system of slitting is the best 
fbr commanding general success, yet wherever the 
flat dibble planting can be depended on, it merits a 
preference, as from the smallness of the plants, the 
roots receive less fracture and derangement in the 
woody state, and the process comes nearer to raising 
from the seed in situ. 

The expense of each system per acre, will be near- 
ly as follows ; — 



346 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



By CrosS'Slitting, or the Double Notch. 

3000 larches and Scots firs, from one to three years trans- 
planted, at 5s. - - - L.O 15 0 
500 hard wood do. do. at 12s. - 0 6 0 
4 days of one superior planter, or of two or- 
dinary planters, at 3s. - - 0 12 0 

L.l 13 0 

By the Flat Dibble^ or the Single Notch, 

4000 larches or Scots firs, from the seed-bed, or one year 
transplanted, at 2s. 6d. - - L. 0 10 0 

1000 hard-wood plants, - -070 

li day of a planter, at 2s. - - 0 3 0 

L.l 0 0 

Although our author speaks so confidently of the 
success of transplanting out firs at one and two years 
of age, yet this must only be taken under limitation 
to the country in which his experience has lain,— 
the barren mountains and moors of Scotland, where 
the vegetation of the heaths is extremely slow, and 
the herbage both thin and short. Were these small 
plants used in the superior climates of England and 
Ireland, where the vegetation of the grasses, and 



cruickshank's practical planter. 347 



other natural occupiers of the soil, is very luxuriant, 
there would scarcely be one in a hundred that would 
ever be seen after the first spring, unless a very ex- 
pensive cultivation to check the weeds were resorted 
to. To effect economical planting in these soils, it 
is necessary to have the plants sufficiently large, not 
too close together, and placed in rows, that a mower 
may be able to distinguish them among the her- 
bage while he cuts it down ; or what is much bet- 
ter, that the spade or plough * culture may be prac- 

* We have raised crops among young trees (as well timber as 
fruit trees), not four yards apart, by plough culture, and have found 
the process, after the ploughmen and horses were accustomed to it, 
not much more expensive than common cultivation, and the crop, 
till the trees became too close, scarcely inferior. By means of a 
long muzzle to the plough standing out towards the left side, and 
a driver to the horses beside the ploughman, we succeeded in get- 
ting the two first furrows lapped a little over each other in the row 
of trees, where the gathering of the ridge commenced (we gathered 
up at every other row). In the row of trees where the finishing 
of the ploughing of the ridge occurred, we were obliged to leave a 
stripe of ground about two feet wide, to be dug by the spade. The 
horses required to be yoked in file, and to drag by ropes (traces) 
rather than by chains, as the bark of the trees was liable to be 
rubbed off by the latter. The more to guard against rubbing, we 
had the swingletree constructed so that the trace-ropes came out 
from a hole in the ends, without any hook. In harrowing the 
ground, one man is required to lead the horses, and another to di- 
rect the harrows. In rich soil, under cultivation of green crop, in 
this manner, trees progress very rapidly, and from the open ar- 
rangement acquire very healthy constitutions. Of course, when 



348 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



tised, and potatoes, turnips, or other green crop, 
raised among them, without the plants being over- 
whelmed. In case of grass production, the oftener 
during the season the young plantation is mown, 
the more advantageous, as well that the plants may- 
be the more easily distinguished, as that the lower 
branches may not be smothered, nor the soil so much 
exhausted and dried by the blooming and seeding 
of the herbage ; of course, a short scythe is required, 
and also a very careful mower. 

Speaking of the best season for planting, Mr 
Cruickshank states : — 

" In wet and swampy soils, as well as in land, 
whether dry or moist, whose surface is bare, I would 
be inclined to prefer the spring. Wet land swells 
to such a degree, that plants which have not had 
time to take a firm hold with their roots, are almost 

not conifei'Ee, the plants require a little more attention to train to 
one leader and equality of feeders, than when close planted. We 
should consider plough cultivation of young woods, provided 
jiloughmen as expert and careful as the Scots could be obtained, 
much more worthy the attention of the English planter than the 
Withers' system (trenching). Need we mention, that in green crop, 
every thing depends upon plenty of manure and of well-timed 
plough and horse hoe labour ? Excepting in the case of larch, we 
should dread no injury to tlie trees or timber from plenty of ma- 
nure. 



cruickshank's practical planter. 849 



inevitably thrown out." — " These remarks have re- 
ference only to the system of planting by notching: 
when the pitting system is adopted, it fixes the plant 
so thoroughly, as to render the utmost power of frost 
incapable of doing them any injury." — " The utmost 
limits of the planting season may be estimated from 
the middle of October to the middle of March." — ■ 
" I am a decided advocate for thick planting, and 
would advise that no fewer than 3000 trees per acre 
be planted in good land, nor a less number than 
4000 when the soil is of a middling or inferior qua- 
lity.*' 

Mr Cruickshank must surely have had little ac- 
quaintance with soft, spongy, close-bottomed soils, 
or he would not have asserted that pit-planted trees 
are not subject to be throw^n. If planted in the early 
part of winter or autumn, trees of the usual size, 
which have remained from one to three years in the 
nursery line, are very frequently thrown from such 
soils. This is caused by the freezing earth first 
catching fast hold of the plant at the surface, and 
afterwards swelling underneath from the enlarge- 
ment of the freezing water in its pores, and from 
the open crystallized honeycomb arrangement which 
takes place by congelation. As the stem is fast to 



350 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



the ground at the surface, and the earth subse- 
quently enlarged underneath as far as the congela- 
tion proceeds, the roots below the congelation must 
of necessity be drawn upwards to the distance which 
the ground has swelled after the stem was fixed to 
the surface. The earth, on thaw, first loses hold of 
the plant at the surface, and then falls away as it 
contracts. Each successive frost and thaw during 
winter thus raises the plant a certain space, till by 
spring it often is so far extracted, as to fall over on 
its side. When the plant has stood a season, there 
is generally a tuft of herbage around its stem, which 
prevents the freezing in a considerable degree ; and 
the roots having fixed in the lower earth, resist the 
pulling up so much, that the hold which the frozen 
earth has of the stem at the surface gives way, 
sometimes pulling off a portion of the bark, and the 
earth rises around the stem in place of pulling the 
tree. 

Instead of the season for spring planting being 
over by the middle of March, we think that, in 
many of our wet moors, it should then only be com- 
mencing, especially under the pitting system. How- 
ever, planting should never be deferred a day later 
in spring than what is absolutely necessary to ren- 
der the ground sufficiently dry for the process. 

2 



cruickshank's practical planter. 351 



Mr Oruicksliank's opinions regarding pruning and 
thinning are generally not very incorrect. His com- 
mencing sentence on pruning, that " most decidu- 
ous trees, if left to themselves, have a tendency to 
grow with short trunks, containing little timber, 
and to waste their strength on large unweildy tops," 
would, however, lead us to form a different conclu- 
sion. The very tall, clean, straight, deciduous trees, 
in the American forests, give a sufficient answer to 
this. We like his remark respecting thinning, that 
" it is only efficacious when applied as a preventive, 
not as a cure." 

Mr Cruickshank next brings forward his plan of 
raising oak forest, which appears to have been his 
own invention, although invented before. When- 
ever mice and other gnawers (glires) are not very 
abundant, it, if properly executed, would seem to be 
the best method of raising oak forest ; and, indeed, 
in many situations, the only practicable one. Mr 
Cniickshank's method coincides nearly with Mr 
Sang's, only he does not carry his system of protec- 
tion so far as Mr Sang, in first raising belts of 
the most hardy kinds of timber, distributed to 
windward of, and intersecting the place intended to 
be planted, in such a manner as to afford the best 
possible shelter from the coldest most destructive 



352 



NOTICES OF x^UTHOllS. 



winds. Mr Cruickshank, who has never carried his 
plan into execution, except in an experiment em- 
bracing a few yards, directs that the ground in- 
tended for oak forest should first be planted with 
Scots fir and larch, about 4000 to the acre, by the 
single-notch process, previously described, which 
can be accomplished under L. 1 per acre. As soon 
as these have risen to four feet in height, he pre- 
pares patches about two feet square and ten feet 
distant in the interstices, by digging the soil over, 
and mixing a spadeful of slaked lime carefully with 
the mould, taking out a tree whenever the inter- 
stices do not suit for the patches. He then plants, 
in the end of March or beginning of April, five 
acorns in each patch, about an inch deep, one in the 
centre, and the other four in the angles of a foot 
square, and gives them no farther attention for two 
years, except removing any overhanging low fir 
branch. He then goes over the patches, cutting 
out all the supernumerary plants, a few inches be- 
low the surface, leaving the most promising one on 
each patch, being very careful not to disturb any of 
its roots in cutting out the others. As these oak 
plants extend in size, he gradually removes the fir. 

Excepting the bare plan itself, which is certainly 
very plausible, there is nothing in the description 



cuuickshank's practical planter. 353 



of the practice — the preparation of the patches of 
ground to receive the seed and the suhsequent 
management — which merits attention. His very 
particidar interdiction of the use of manure is, to 
say the least of it, injudicious — as if it signified 
to the plant whether it were forced hy the use of 
lime, or hy a httle putrescent manure, both of which 
Mr Withers would consider very advantageous ; or 
as if there were much fear on our poor exposed 
wastes of erring on the side of rendering the plant 
delicate from over luxuriance ; its constitution, on 
the contrary, would rather be strengthened. Mr 
Cruickshank, in directing the removal of the fir 
nurses, one thousand per acre to stand till they have 
reached twenty-five years, fit for roofing of cottages, 
and similar purposes ; and five hundred till they 
have reached thirty-five years ; his dividing a slaked 
boll of lime into five hundred spadefuls ; and his be- 
stowing no hoeing or weeding upon his seedlings, 
would show, without his admitting it, that he had 
never practised this mode of forming plantation. 

Prefacing this system of rearing oak forest, Mr 
Cruickshank in rather a clever manner points out its 
advantages, and also the disadvantages and conse- 
quent failures of planting young oak trees in exposed 
situations. But after all his eulogy, we think he has 

z 



354 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



left something unsaid. The great disadvantage at- 
tending transplanting oaks to situations not very fa- 
vourable to their growth, is, that the plant which, un- 
der any circumstances, receives irreparable and often 
mortal harm, from the severe injuries of removal, has 
to contend, in this mutilated condition, at the same 
time with the uninjured occupiers of the soil (the 
nurses or the native weeds), and with the unpropitious 
situation ; whereas, when the plant springs up from 
the acorn a native, especially when it is assisted at 
first by weeding or hoeing, the part above ground 
being always in proportion to that below, and re- 
ceiving due nourishment, it contends with the occu- 
piers on more equal terms, and encounters the steri- 
lity of the soil, or the severity of the climate, with 
all its natural powers unimpaired. 

As it is the natural condition of the seedling to 
grow up under the shelter of the parent tree, so also 
does it happen, that it rises under this shelter with 
greater luxuriance and vigour than when exposed to 
the evaporation, and parching sun, and battering 
wind, of the bare country. 

We have admired the beautiful, straight, luxuriant, 
shoots of the young hollies, thrown out under shel- 
ter, and have compared them with the dry stunted 
shoots of the young holly in the open country, 
though in the former case their roots had to contend 



CRUICKSHANK'S PllACTICAL PLANTER. 855 



with the roots of larger trees, and in the latter they 
had the soil to themselves. Experience has proved, 
that in exposed bleak situations, shelter is necessary 
to young plants. Transplanted oaks among the 
roots of young trees, so large as to afford sufficient 
shelter, very frequently do not succeed, at least with- 
out the utmost care in the transplanting, and a con- 
siderable deal of labour to prevent the roots of the 
shelter trees from starving the transplanted ones, 
unless a very propitious moist summer follow the 
transplanting. Raising from the seed, which ob- 
viates all this, seems therefore the only convenient- 
ly practicable way. Yet it must be owned, that 
the system of raising forests in sihi from the seed, 
appears, as yet, much more successfid on paper than 
on om* hills and moors. 

In endeavouring to confute the opinion, that the 
oak will not grow throughout Scotland, but in the 
milder and more propitious situations, Mr Cruick- 
shank adduces the well-known fact, that large oak 
timber is found in almost every peat-moss. 

This is a fact worth tracing to its cause. Under 
Nature's own conduct, trees advance considerably ftir- 
ther into elevated or cold inhospitable regions, than 
they would otherwise do, by means of the mutual 
shelter, and of the more hardy kinds acting as an ad- 
vance guard. Yet there is a limit to this, as the 

z 2 



356 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



power of ripening seed is not increased by shelter in 
proportion to the power of groT\dng — perhaps not 
at all ; we instance the Spanish chestnut, vvhich 
has scarcely ever been kno^^^^i to ripen seed in Scot- 
land. Seed-grown trees will, therefore, under Na- 
tui'e's arrangement, not be found extending much 
beyond the line of seed ripening. From nuts, 
acorns, and other seeds, fully developed, being found 
in elevated mosses in this country, other causes than 
shelter appear to have existed. 

Before this country was so much overrun by men 
and oxen, a great deal of timber had existed, cover- 
ing much of the superior land which is now under 
tillage. This consisted chiefly of the oak, Scots fir, 
birch, hazel, and alder, — the oak extending north - 
ward and to elevations, and ripening seed, and at- 
taining to a size which it does not now do, either 
wild or cultivated, in the same latitude, neither here 
nor in any other portion of the world ; which, along 
with some other facts, lead to the supposition, that 
the climate has changed a little, — in part, possibly, 
as we have before stated, from the gradual formation 
of peat, to which, overthrown oak forest, from the 
abundance of the tannin principle, has a great dis- 
posing influence, even under a warmer climate than 
present Scotland. The highest latitude to which a 
tree, or any other kind of plant, reproducing by seed. 



cruickshank's practical planter. 357 



naturally extends, depending on the ripening of the 
seed, and also on the power of occupancy, is how- 
ever different from that where it will grow% when 
ripe seeds are procured from the coldest place where 
they ripen, and all the competitors removed ; and 
imder the system of shelter belts, hardy pine nm*ses, 
and seeds from the nearest place where they ripen, 
we have no doubt that oaks may be extended to a 
colder situation than Nature herself would have 
placed them in. For the higher more bleak por- 
tion of the country, we would recommend acorns 
grown in Scotland, in preference to those imported 
from England. We have several times observed 
w^heat, the seed of which had been imported from 
England, sustain blight and other injuries in a cold 
moist autumn, when a portion of the same field, 
sown of Scots seed, at the same time as the other, 
and under the very same circumstances, was entirely 
free from injmy. English acorns are also frequent- 
ly heated in the casks in which they are imported, 
which must impair their vigour 

* We are indebted to our friend Mr Gorrie, Annat Garden, for 
the fact, that English acorns throw up a much more luxuriant stem 
than the Scots ; they forming a step of several inches when plant- 
ed next each other in the nursery line. We should consider this 
to arise from the largeness of the rudiments of the plant, and 
greater quantity of garnered nourishment in the English acorns. 



358 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



The part of Mr Cruickshank's volume which we 
have analyzed, does not extend much beyond the 
first half: this portion is well worth a perusal. We 
have merely glanced over the remainder : it is a 
make-up scarce worth noticing. The language, on 
the whole, is easy and plain ; and although the vo- 
lume contains a considerable number of errors, in 
the pointing out of which we have not been sparing, 
yet will it form an excellent planter's assistant to 
people who have ground to plant, and are ignorant 
of the process of planting. 



We have now brought before the reader a pretty 
fair pictm-e of the Forestry of the present day. 
Some may wonder that the written science of ar- 
boriculture should be so imperfect and inaccurate ; 
but the knowledge of the art, and the power of com- 
municating that knowledge, are of so different a cha- 

vvhich are nearly double the size of the Scots, our present climate 
being insufficient for the proper development. This leads to the 
question, will the greater luxuriance balance any tenderness from 
want of acclimatizing? VV^ould the oak keep its present locality 
in Scotland if left to nature ? A careful inspection of the most 
elevated peat mosses in which remains of timber exist, and a com- 
parison of the size of the seeds found there, with that of those of 
the present day, grown the nearest to this in situation, would re- 
solve the question of refrigeration. 



CRUICKSHANK^S PRACTICAL PLANTER. 359 



Tacter, it not unfrequently happens, that those write 
who cannot act, and those who can, are incompe- 
tent to write — sometimes unmlling ; besides, cor- 
rect opinions on this subject, as on most others, are 
only just beginning to be formed. We have endea- 
voured to assist in disentanghng the correct from the 
erroneous. It is impossible for the most wary al- 
ways to avoid misconception of facts, but man merits 
the name of rational only, when he evinces a readi- 
ness to break from those misconceptions, to which 
the narrow-minded, the proud, the vain, and the 
creatm-e of habit and instinct, cling so obstinately. 
Asa friend, we have stood on no ceremony with our 
brother arboricultmists. We have laid oiu-selves 
open to their criticism, and we hope they will shew 
as little ceremony with us. 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX. 



Note A. 

It is only on the Ocean that Universal Empwe is practi- 
cable — only by means of Navigation that all the world 
can be subdued or retained under one dominion. On 
land, the greatest numbers, and quantity of materiel, are 
unavailable, excepting around the spot where they are 
produced. The most powerful army is crippled by ad- 
vancing a few degrees in an enemy's territory, unless 
when aided by some catching enthusiasm ; its resources 
get distant — communication is obstructed — subjection 
does not extend beyond the range of its guns, and it 
quickly melts away. The impossibility of dominion ex- 
tending over a great space, when communication is only 
by land, has often been proved. The rule of Cyrus, or 
Alexander, the Caesars, the Tartar conquerors *, or 
Bonaparte, did not extend over a tithe of the earth ; and we 
may believe, that, by some of these chiefs, dominion was 

* The very extended sway, the state of civilization considered, of 
the Tartar, was evidently the consequence of the great facility of com- 
munication from the plain open surface of the country, and the eques- 
trian habits of the people. 



364 



APPENDIX. 



extended as widely as under land communication could be 
effected — further than under it could be supported. 

On the contrary, when a powerful nation has her war- 
like strength afloat, and possesses naval superiority, inde- 
pendent of being unassailable herself, every spot of the 
world, wherever a wave can roll, is accessible to her 
power and under her control. In a very short time she 
can throw an irresistible force, unexhausted by marches, 
and with every resource, upon any hostile point, the point 
of attack being in her own choice, and unknown to the 
enemy. In case of her dependent dominions being scat- 
tered over the two hemispheres, her means of communi- 
cation, and consequent power of defending these and 
supporting authority, are more facile than what exists 
between the seat of government of any ordinary sized 
continental kingdom and its provinces. Were a popular 
system of colonial government adopted, many islands 
and inferior states would find it their interest to become 
incorporated as part of the Empire. 

Note B. 

There is a law universal in nature, tending to render 
every reproductive being the best possibly suited to it« 
condition that its kind, or that organized matter, is sus- 
ceptible of, which appears intended to model the physical 
and mental or instinctive powers, to their highest per- 
fection, and to continue them so. This law sustains the 
lion in his strength, the hare in her swiftness, and the 



APPENDIX 365 

fox in his wiles. As Nature, in all her modifications of 
life, has a power of increase far beyond what is needed to 
supply the place of what falls by Time's decay, those in- 
dividuals who possess not the requisite strength, swift- 
ness, hardihood, or cunning, fall prematurely without re- 
producing — either a prey to their natural devourers, or 
sinking under disease, generally induced by want of 
nourishment, their place being occupied by the more per- 
fect of their own kind, who are pressing on the means of 
subsistence. The law of entail, necessary to hereditary 
nobility, is an outrage on this law of nature which she 
will not pass unavenged — a law which has the most de- 
basing influence upon the energies of a people, and will 
sooner or later lead to general subversion, more especially 
when the executive of a country remains for a consider- 
able time efficient, and no effort is needed on the part 
of the nobility to protect their own, or no war to draw 
forth or preserve their powers by exertion. It is all 
very well, when, in stormy times, the baron has everv 
faculty trained to its utmost ability in keeping his proud 
crest aloft. How far hereditary nobility, under effective 
government, has operated to retard " the march of intel- 
lect," and deteriorate the species in modern Europe, is 
an interesting and important question. We have seen it 
play its part in France ; we see exhibition of its influence 
throughout the Iberian peninsula, to the utmost degrada- 
tion of its victims. It has rendered the Italian peninsula, 
with its islands, a blank in the political map of Europe. 
Let the panegyrists of hereditary nobility, primogeniture, 
and entail, say what these countries might not have been 



366 



APPENDIX. 



but for the baneful influence of tMs unnatural custom. 
It is an eastern proverb, that no king is many removes 
from a shepherd. Most conquerors and founders of dy- 
nasties have followed the plough or the flock. Nobility, 
to be in the highest perfection, like the finer varieties of 
fruits, independent of having its vigour excited by regu- 
lar married alliance with wilder stocks, would require 
stated complete renovation, by selection anew, from 
among the purest crab. In some places, this renovation 
would not be so soon requisite as in others, and, judging 
from facts, we would instance Britain as perhaps the soil 
where nobility will continue the longest untainted. As 
we advance nearer to the equator, renovation becomes 
sooner necessary, excepting at high elevation — in many 
places, every third generation, at least with the Cauca- 
sian breed, although the finest stocks be regularly im- 
ported. This renovation is required as well physically 
as morally. 

It is chiefly in regard to the interval of time between 
the period of necessary feudal authority, and that when 
the body of the population having acquired the power of 
self-government from the spread of knowledge, claim a 
community of rights, that we have adverted to the use of 
war. The manufacturer, the merchant, the sailor, the 
capitalist, whose mind is not corrupted by the indolence 
induced under the law of entail, are too much occupied 
to require any stimulant beyond what the game in the 
wide field of commercial adventure affords. A great 
change in the circumstances of man is obviously at hand. 



APPENDIX. 



367 



In the first step beyond tlie condition of the wandering 
savage, while the lower classes from ignorance remained 
as helpless children, mankind naturally fell into clans 
under paternal or feudal government ; but as children, 
when grown up to maturity, with the necessity for pro- 
tection, lose the subordination to parental authority, so 
the great mass of the present population requiring no 
guidance from a particular class of feudal lords, will not 
continue to tolerate any hereditary claims of authority of 
one portion of the population over their fellow-men ; nor 
any laws to keep up rank and wealth corresponding 
to this exclusive power. — It would be wisdom in the 
noblesse of Europe to abolish every claim or law which 
serves to point them out a separate class, and, as quickly 
as possible, to merge themselves into the mass of the po- 
pulation. It is a law manifest in nature, that when the 
use of any thing is past, its existence is no longer kept up<^ 
Although the necessity for the existence of feudal lords 
is past, yet the same does not hold in respect to a heredi- 
tary head or King ; and the stability of this head of the 
government will, in no way, be lessened by such a change. 
In the present state of European society, perhaps no other 
rule can be so mild and efficient as that of a liberal be- 
nevolent monarch, assisted by a popular representative 
Parliament. The poorest man looks up to his king as his 
own, with aifection and pride, and considers him a pro- 
tector ; while he only regards the antiquated feudal lord 
with contempt. The influence of a respected hereditary 
family, as head of a country, is also of great utility in 



368 



APPENDIX. 



forming a principle of union to the different members, and 
in giving unity and stability to the government. 

In respect to our own great landholders themselves, we 
would ask, where is there that unnatural parent — that mi- 
serable victim of hereditary pride — who does not desire to 
see his domains equally divided among his own children? 
The high paid sinecures in church and state will not 
much longer be a great motive for keeping up a power- 
ful family head, whose influence may burthen their fel- 
low-citizens with the younger branches. Besides, when a 
portion of land is so large, that the owner cannot have an 
individual acquaintance and associations with every 
stream, and bush, and rock, and knoll, the deep enjoy- 
ment which the smaller native proprietor would liaA^e in 
the peculiar features, is not called forth, and is lost to 
man. The abolition of the law of entail and primogeni- 
ture, will, in the present state of civilization, not only add 
to the happiness of the proprietor, heighten morality, and 
give much greater stability to the social order, but will 
also give a general stimulus to industry and improvement, 
increasing the comforts and elevating the condition of 
the operative class. 

In the new state of things which is near at hand, the 
proprietor and the mercantile class will amalgamise, — 
employment in useful occupations will not continue 
to be held in scorn, — the merchant and manufacturer will 
no longer be barely tolerated to exist, harassed at every 
turn by imposts and the interference of petty tyrants ; — 
Government, instead of forming an engine of oppression, 
being simplified and based on morality and justice, will 



APPENDIX. 



369 



become a clieap and efficient protection to person and 
property; and the necessary taxation being levied from 
property alone, every indiAacIaal will purchase in the 
cheapest market, and sell the produce of his industry in 
the dearest. This period might, perhaps, be accelerated 
throughout Europe, did the merchants and capitalists 
only know their own strength. Let them, as citizens of 
the world, hold annual congress in some central place, 
and deliberate on the interests of man, which is their 
own, and throw the whole of their influence to support 
liberal and just governments, and to repress slavery, 
crime, bigotry — tyranny in all shapes. A Rothschild 
might earn an unstained fame, as great as yet has been 
attained by man, by organizing such a power, and pre- 
siding at its councils. 



Note C. 

The influence of long continued impression, constitu- 
ting instinct or habit of breed, is a curious phenomenon in 
the animal economy. Our population in the eastern 
maritime districts of Britain, descended principally from 
the Scandinavian rover, though devoted for a time to agri- 
cultural or mechanical occupation, betake themselves, 
when opportunity offers, to their old element, the ocean 

• The habit of bieed is apparent in many places of the world. Where 
a fine river washes the walls of some of the internal towns of France, 
scarce a boat is to be seen, except the long tract-boats employed in the 

A a 



370 



APPENDIX. 



and lauucli out upon the " wintry wave" with much of 
the same home-felt composure as does the white polar 
bear. They roam oyer every sea and CA^ery shore, from 
Behring's Straits to Magellan's, with as little solicitude as 
the Kelt over his own misty hill, overcoming, in endu- 
rance, the native of the torrid zone under his vertical sun, 
and the native of the frigid among his polar snows. 

To what may we ascribe the superiority of this portion 
of the Caucasian breed, — may it arise in part from its re- 
peated change of place under favourable circumstances? 
Other races have migrated, but not like this, always as 
conqueror. The Jew has been a stroller in his time ; but 
he has improved more in mental acumen and cunning — 
not so much in heroism and personal qualities : his pro- 
scribed condition will account for this. The Caucasian 
in its progress, will also have mingled slightly, and, 
judging from analogy, perhaps advantageously, with the 
finer portion of those whom it has overwhelmed. This 
breed, by its wide move across the Atlantic, does not 
seem at all to have lost vigour, and retains the nautical 
and roving instinct unimpaired, although the American 
climate is certainly inferior to the European. It is there 
rapidly moving west, and may soon have described one 
of the earth's circles. A change of seed, that is, a change 
of place, within certain limits of latitude, is well known 

conveyance of fire-wood — nobody thinks of sailing for pleasure. The 
Esquimaux, and the Red Indian of North America, inhabiting the same 
country, shew an entirely distinct habit of breed. The Black and the 
Copper-coloured native of the Australian Islands, are equally opposed 
in instinctive habit. 



APPENDIX. 371 

to be indispensable to the more sturdy growth and health 
of many cultivated vegetables ; it is probable that this 
also holds true of the human race. There are few coun- 
tries where the old breed has not again and again sunk 
before the vigour of new immigi-ation ; we ev^en see the 
worn out breed, chased from their homes to new location, 
return, after a time, superior to their former vanquishers, 
or gradually work their way back in peace, by superior 
subsisting power : this is visible in France, where the ab- 
original sallow Kelt, distinguished by high satyr-like 
feature, deep-placed sparkling brown or grey eye, nar- 
rowed lower part of the face, short erect vertebral co- 
lumn, great mental acuteness, and restless vivacity, has 
emerged from the holes of the earth, the recesses of the 
forests and wastes, into which it had been swept before 
the more powerful blue-eyed Caucasian; and being a 
smaller, more easily subsisting animal, has, by starving 
and eating out, been gradually undermining the breed of 
its former conquerors. The changes which have bee a 
taking place in France, and which, in many places, leave 
now scarcely a trace of the fine race which existed twenty 
centuries ago, may, however, in part, be accounted for by 
the admixture of the Caucasian and Keltic tending more 
to the character of the latter, from the latter being a 
purer and more fixed variety, and nearer the original type 
or medium standard of man; and from the warm dry 
plains of France (much drier from cultivation and the re- 
duction of the forests), having considerable influence to in- 
crease this bias: In some of the south-eastern departments, 

A a 2 



APPENDIX. 



more immediately in tlie tide of the ingi'ess of tlie Cau- 
casian, where the purest current has latest flowed, and 
the climate is more suitable, and also in some of the ma- 
ritime districts, where the air is moister, and to which 
they haA^e been seaborn at a later period, the Caucasian 
character is still prominent. Something of this, yet not 
so general, is occurring in Britain, where the fair bright- 
blooded race is again giving place to the darker and more 
sallow. This may, however, be partly occasioned by 
more of artificial heat and shelter and other consequences 
of higher ci^dlization. There seems to be something con- 
nected with confinement and sedentary life, with morbid 
action of the liver, or respiratory or transpiratory organs, 
which 4e»d to this change under dry and hot, and espe- 
cially confined atmosphere. Perhaps imagination is also 
a worker here; and the colour most regarded, as snow in 
cold countries, black among colliers, white among 
bleachers, or even the dark colour of dress, may produce 
its peculiar impression, and our much looked-up-to Cal- 
vinistic priesthood, from the pulpit, disseminate darkness 
as well as light. 

Our own Kelt has indubitably improved much since, 
par necessite^ he took to the mountain; but, though 
steadily enduring, when there is mental excitement, he 
has acquired a distaste to dull hopeless unceasing labour, 
and would fare scantily and lie hard, rather than submit 
to the monotonous industry of the city operative, or the 
toil of the agricultural drudge. Though once a fugitive, 
the Kelt is now, in moral courage and hardihood, equal 



APPENDIX. 



373 



perhaps to any other, yet he still trembles to put foot on 
ocean. 

Notwithstanding that change of place, simply, may 
have impression to improve the species, yet is it more to 
circumstances connected with this change, to which the 
chief part of the improvement must be referred. In the 
agitation which accompanies emigration, the ablest in 
mind and body— the most powerful varieties of the race 
will be thrown into their natural position as leaders, im- 
pressing the stamp of their character on the people at 
large, and constituting the more reproductive part ; while 
the feebler or more impro^ddent varieties will generally 
sink under the incidental hardships. Wlien a swarm 
emigrates from a prosperous hive, it also will generally 
consist of the more adventurous stirring spirits, who, 
with the right of conquerors, will appropriate the finest 
of the indigenae which they overrun ; their choice of these 
being regulated by personal qualities, not by the adven- 
titious circumstances of wealth or high birth — a regard to 
which certainly tends to deteriorate the species, and is 
one of the causes which renders the noblesse of Europe 
comparatively inferior to the Asiatic, or rather the Chris- 
tian noblesse to the Mahometan. 

It has been remarked, that our finest, most acute po- 
pulation, exist in the neutral ground, where the Cauca- 
sian and Keltic have mixed, but this may arise from other 
causes than admixture. Our healthiest and poorest coun- 
try borders the Highlands, and the population enjoy more 
of the open au*. Our eastern population, north of the 



374 



APPENDIX. 



natural division of Flamboroughead, are also harder and 
sharper featured, and keener witted, than those south- 
ward, who may be styled our fen-bred. There is no 
doubt more of Keltic blood mingled with the north di- 
vision ; but the sea-born breeds have also been different, 
those more northerly being Scandinavian, and the more 
southerly consisting of the native of Lower Germany and 
the heavy Fleming. The placid-looking Englishman, 
more under the control of animal enjoyment, though 
perhaps not so readily acute, excels in the no less valu- 
able qualities of constancy and bodily powers of exer- 
tion ; and when properly taught under high divdsion of 
labour, becomes a better operative in his particular em- 
ployment, and even will sometimes extend scientific dis- 
covery further, than his more mercurial northern neigh- 
bour, who, from his quick wits being generally in advance 
of his manual practice, seldom attains to the dexterity 
which results from the combination of continued bodily ac- 
tion and restricted mental application. There exists, how- 
ever, very considerable intellectual capacity in this Eng- 
lish breed, but it too frequently is crushed under the pre- 
ponderance of the animal part, affording that purest spe- 
cimen of vulgarity, the English clown. But, independ- 
ently of climate and breed, a great part of the low 
Englander's obtuseness is referable to his being entailed 
lord of the soil, under poor-rate law, contravening a na- 
tural law (see note B), so that, when unsuccessful or out 
of employment, he, without effort to obtain some new 
means of independent subsistence, sinks into the parish 



APPENDIX. 



375 



or work-hoiise labourer. On the contrary, the Scotsman, 
with no resource but in himself, with famine always in 
the vista, as much in his view as a principle of action in 
material affairs as his strong perception of the right in 
moral, and also under the stimulus of a high pride, leaves 
no means untried at home ; and, when fairly starved out of 
his native country, among various resources, often invades 
the territory of his more easy-minded southern neighbour, 
where his acuteness seldom fails to find out a convenient 
occupation, in which manual dexterity is second to eco- 
nomy and forethought — his success exciting the wonder 
and envy of the dull-witted native. 

It would appear, that the finest portion, at least ap- 
parently so, of the north temperate zone, between the par- 
rallels of 30^ and 48° latitude, when nearly of the level 
of the ocean, is not so favourable for human existence as 
the more northern part between 50° and 60°, or even the 
torrid zone. The native of the north of Europe has a su- 
perior development of person, and a much longer repro- 
ductory life than the native of the south, which more 
than counterbalances the earlier maturity of the latter in 
power of increase. Independent of the great current of 
population setting south in the northern part of the tem- 
perate zone, there seems even to be some tendency to a 
flux northward, from the confines of the torrid ; but this 
arises rather from the unsteadiness of the seasons, and 
consequent deficit of food, at particular times, than from 
a steady increase of population. 



376 



APPENDIX. 



Note D, p. 4. 

Our milder moods, benevolence, gentleness, contempla- 
tion — our refinement in sentiment — our " lovely dreams 
of peace and joy," have negative weight in the balance 
of national strength. The rougher excitement of hatred, 
ambition, pride, patriotism, and the more selfish passions, 
is necessary to the full and strong development of our ac- 
tive powers. That Britain is leaving the impress of her 
energy and morality on a considerable portion of the 
world, is owing to her having first borne fire and sword 
over these countries : the husbandman tears up the glebe, 
with all its covering of weeds and flowers, before he com- 
mit his good seed to the earth. Life and death — good 
and evil — pleasure and pain, are the principles of im- 
pulse to the scheme or machine of nature, as heat and 
cold are to the steam-engine, thus moving in necessary 
alternate dependence. Our moral sense, our perception 
and love of good, could not exist without the knowledge 
of evil ; yet, we shudder at the truth of evil being part 
and portion of nature. 

Note E. 

There cannot be a more striking proof of the necessity 
of a better representation of the marine interest, than the 
fact, that our trading vessels are constructed of an unsuit- 



APPENDIX. 



377 



able figure, owing to the improper manner of measuring 
the register tonnage. In order to save a little trouble of 
calculation to the surveying officer in gauging the contents 
of the vessel, the law directs him merely to take the length 
and breadth at the widest place, and from these lines, by 
a regular formula, to compute the tonnage; the vessel 
paying the charges for lights and harbours, and other 
dues, in proportion to this measurement. The result is, 
that, in order to lessen these dues individually, our ves- 
sels are constructed deep in proportion to breadth, con- 
sequently are sluggish sailers, and not nearly so safe and 
pleasant sea-boats as they otherwise would be — many a 
ship, especially with light cargo, getting on her beam- 
ends and foundering, or not standing up under canvass 
to weather a lee shore. The influence of this absurd 
measurement law is the more unlucky, as the ship-owner, 
from a deep vessel being, in proportion to the capacity of 
the hold, cheaper than one of shallower or longer dimen- 
sions, is already more disposed to construct his vessel 
deeper than is consistent with the safety of the seamen 
and security of the ship and cargo, the particular insu- 
rance of a deep vessel not being greater than that of one 
of safer proportions. The injurious effect from vessels 
being constructed on the principles of avoiding tolls or 
dues, rather than for sailing, will occur to every one. 
We need not say that all this flows from the ignorance 
or carelessness of the constructors of our Parliamentary 

acts, consequent to defective representation. 

1 



378 



APPENDIX. 



Note F. 

In tlie case of the upper carse on the Tay Firth, there 
is evidence, both from its vestiges and from records, that 
it had occupied, at least, the entire firth, or sea-basin, 
above Broughty Ferry, and that about 50 square miles of 
this carse has been carried out into the German Ocean 
by the strong sea-tide current, a consequence of the lower- 
ing of the German Ocean, and of the deepening of the 
outlet of this sea- basin at Broughty Ferry, apparently by 
this very rapid sea-tide current. This carse appears to 
have been a general deposition at the bottom of a lake 
having only a narrow outlet communicating with the sea, 
and probably did not rise much higher than the height of 
the bottom of the outlet at that time. 

An increase of deposition of alluvium, or prevention of 
decrease, may, in many cases, be accomplished by artifi- 
cial means. The diminution of the carse of the Tay was 
in rapid progress about sixty years ago, the sea-bank 
being undermined by the waves of the basin, the clay 
tumbling down, becoming diffused in the water, and 
being carried out to sea, by every ebbing tide, purer 
wsitev returning from the ocean the next tide-flow. This 
decrease was stopped by the adoption of stone embanking 
and dikes. A small extension of the carses of present 
high-water level, in the upper part of the firtns of Tay 
and Forth, has lately been effected, by forming brush- 
wood, stone and mud dikes, to promote the accumulation. 



APPENDIX. 



379 



In doing this, tlie whole art consists in placing obstruc- 
tions to the current and waves, so that whatever deposi- 
tion takes place at high- water, or at the beginning of the 
flood-tide, when the water is nearly still, may not again 
be raised and carried off. 

Notwithstanding this accumulation, and also the pre- 
vention of further waste of the superior carse, the deep- 
ening of the Tay Firth, formerly carse, and of the gorge 
at Broughty Ferry, seems still in progress, and could not, 
without very considerable labour, be prevented. In the 
case, however, of the sea-basin of iMontrose, a little la- 
bour, from the narrowness of the gorges, would put it in 
a condition to become gradually filled wdth mud. Not a 
great deal more expenditure than what has sufficed to 
erect the suspension-bridge OA^er its largest outlet, would 
have entii'ely filled up this outlet, and the smaller outlet 
might have been also filled to within several feet of high- 
water, and made of sufficient breadth only, to emit the 
w^ater of the river, which flows into the basin. The 
floated sand and mud of this river, thus prevented from 
being carried out to sea, would, in the course of years, 
completely fill up the basin. 

From some vestiges of the upper carse, as well as of 
the lower or submarine carse, in situations where their 
formation cannot easily be traced to any local cause, it 
seems not improbable that the basin of the German sea 
itself, nearly as far north as the extent of Scotland, had 
at one time been occupied with a carse or delta, a conti- 
nuation of Holland, formed by the accumulation of the 



380 



APPENDIX. 



diluvium of the rivers wliicli flow into this basin, toge- 
ther with the molluscous exuvi^ of the North Sea, and 
the abrasion of the Norwegian coast and Scottish islands, 
borne downward by the hea^y North Sea swell. 

In the case of the delta of Holland having extended so 
far northward, a subsidence of the land or rising of the 
sea, so as to form a passage for the waters round Bri- 
tain, must have occurred. The derangement, at several 
places, of the fine wavy stratification of these carses, and 
the confusedly heaped-up beds of broken sea-shells, shew 
that some gi-eat rush of water had taken place, probably 
when Belgium was dissevered from England. Since the 
opening of the bottom of the gulf, the accumulation may 
have been undergoing a gradual reduction, by more dif- 
fused mud * being carried off from the German Sea into 
the Atlantic and North Sea, than what the former is re- 
ceiving — the same process taking place here as has been 
occurring in the basin of the Tay. The large sand- 
banks on the Dutch and English coast, — in some places, 
such as the Goodwin Sands, certainly the heavier, less 
diffusible part of the former allmdal country, and por- 
tions of these alluvial districts being retained by arti- 
ficial means,— -bear a striking resemblance to the sand- 

■ The sea ^^-ater from Flamborougli-head, southward to the Straits 
of Dover, is generally discoloured with mud ; and during ever^^ breeze 
takes up an addition from the bottom, which is an alluvium so unstable 
and loose, that no sea vegetation can hold in it. From not producing 
herbage, the general basis of animal life, few fishes or shells can find 
support in it. 



APPENDIX. 



381 



banks of the sea basin of the Tay — the less diffusible re- 
mains of the removed portion of the alluvium which had 
once occupied all that basin, and to the remaining por- 
tion of the alluvium also retained by artificial means. 



Throughout this volume, we have felt considerable in* 
convenience, from the adopted dogmatical classification 
of plants, and have all along been floundering between 
species and variety, which certainly under culture soften 
into each other. A particular conformity, each after its 
own kind, when in a state of nature, termed species, no 
doubt exists to a considerable degree. This conformity 
has existed during the last forty centuries. Geologists dis- 
cover a like particular conformity — ^fossil species — through 
the deep deposition of each great epoch, but they also 
discover an almost complete difference to exist between 
the species or stamp of life, of one epoch from that of 
every other. We are therefore led to admit, either of a 
repeated miraculous creation ; or of a power of change, 
under a change of cu'cumstances, to belong to living or- 
ganized matter, or rather to the congeries of inferior life, 
which appears to form superior. The derangements and 
changes in organized existence, induced by a change of 
circumstance from the interference of man, affording us 



3S2 



APPENDIX. 



proof of the plastic quality of superior life, and the like- 
lihood that circumstances have been yery different in 
the different epochs, though steady in each, tend strongly 
to heighten the probability of the latter theory. 

When we view the immense calcareous and bituminous 
formations, principally from the waters and atmosphere, 
and consider the oxidations and depositions which have 
taken place, either gradually, or during some of the great 
convulsions, it appears at least probable, that the liquid 
elements containing life have varied considerably at dif- 
ferent times in composition and in weight ; that our at- 
mosphere has contained a much greater proportion of 
carbonic acid or oxygen ; and our waters, aided by excess 
of carbonic acid, and greater heat resulting from gi*eater 
density of atmosphere, have contained a greater quanti- 
ty of lime and other mineral solutions. Is the inference 
then unphilosophic, that li^^ng things which are proved 
to have a circumstance-suiting power^ — a very slight 
change of circumstance by culture inducing a corres- 
ponding change of character — may have gradually ac- 
commodated themselves to the variations of the elements 
containing them, and, without new creation, have present- 
ed the diverging changeable phenomena of past and pre- 
sent organized existence. 

The destructive liquid currents, before which the hard- 
est mountains have been swept and comminuted into 
gravel, sand, and mud, which intervened between and di- 
vided these epochs, probably extending over the whole 
surface of the globe^ and destroying nearly all living 



APPENDIX. 



383 



things, must have reduced existence so much, that an 
unoccapied field would be formed for new diverging 
ramifications of life, which, from the connected sexual 
system of vegetables, and the natural instincts of animals 
to herd and combine with their own kind, would fall into 
specific groups, these remnants, in the course of time, 
moulding and accommodating their being anew to the 
change of circumstances, and to every possible means of 
subsistence, and the millions of ages of regularity which 
appear to have followed between the epochs, probably 
after this accommodation was completed, affording fossil 
deposit of regular specific character. 

There are only two probable ways of change — the 
above, and the still wider de^dation from present occur- 
rence, — of indestructible or molecular life (which seems 
to resolve itself into powers of attraction and repulsion 
under mathematical figure and regulation, bearing a slight 
systematic similitude to the great aggregations of mat- 
ter), gi'adually uniting and developing itself into new 
circumstance-suited living aggi'egates, without the pre- 
sence of any mould or germ of former aggregates, but 
this scarcely diflfers from new creation, only it forms a 
portion of a continued scheme or system. 

In endeavouring to trace, in the former way, the prin- 
ciple of these changes of fashion which have taken place 
in the domiciles of life, the following questions occur : 
Do they arise from admixture of species nearly allied 
producing intermediate species ? Are they the diverging 
ramifications of the living principle under modification of 



384 



APPENDIX. 



circumstance? Or have they resulted from the combined 
agency of both ? Is there only one living principle? 
Does organized existence, and perhaps all material exist- 
ence, consist of one Proteus principle of life capable of 
gradual circumstance-suited modifications and aggrega- 
tions, without bound under the solvent or motion-giving 
principle, heat or light ? There is more beauty and uni- 
ty of design in this continual balancing of life to circum- 
stance, and greater conformity to those dispositions of 
nature which are manifest to us, than in total destruc- 
tion and new creation. It is improbable that much of 
this diversification is owing to commixture of species 
nearly allied, all change by this appears very limited, and 
confined within the bounds of what is called Species ; 
the progeny of the same parents, under great difference 
of cii'cumstance, might, in several generations, even be- 
come distinct species, incapable of co-reproduction. 
- The self-regulating adaptive disposition of organized 
life may, in part, be traced to the extreme fecundity of 
Nature, who, as before stated, has, in all the varieties of 
her offspring, a prolific power much beyond (in many 
cases a thousandfold) what is necessary to fill up the 
vacancies caused by senile decay. As the field of exist- 
ence is limited and pre-occupied, it is only the hardier, 
more robust, better suited to circumstance individuals, 
who are able to struggle forward to maturity, these inha- 
biting only the situations to which they have superior ad- 
aptation and greater power of occupancy than any other 
kind ; the weaker, less circumstance-suited, being prema- 



APPENDIX. 



385 



turely destroyed. This principle is in constant action, it 
regulates the colour, the figure, the capacities, and in- 
stincts ; those individuals of each species, whose colour 
and covering are best suited to concealment or protection 
from enemies, or defence from vicissitude and inclemen- 
cies of climate, whose figure is best accommodated to 
health, strength, defence, and support ; whose capacities 
and instincts can best regulate the physical energies to 
self-advantage according to cu'cumstances — in such im- 
mense waste of primary and youthful life, those only 
come forward to maturity from the strict ordeal by which 
Nature tests their adaptation to her standard of perfec- 
tion and fitness to continue their kind by reproduction. 

From the unremitting operation of this law acting in 
concert with the tendency which the progeny have to 
take the more particular qualities of the parents, together 
with the connected sexual system in vegetables, and in- 
stinctive limitation to its own kind in animals, a consi- 
derable uniformity of figure, colom*, and character, is in- 
duced, constituting species ; the breed gradually acquiring 
the very best possible adaptation of these to its condition 
which it is susceptible of, and when alteration of circum- 
stance occurs, thus changing in character to suit these 
as far as its nature is susceptible of change. 

This circumstance-adaptive law, operating upon the 
slight but continued natural disposition to sport in the 
progeny (seedling variety), does not preclude the supposed 
influence which volition or sensation may have over the 
configuration of the body. To examine into the disposi- 

Bb 



S86 



APPENDIX. 



tion to sport in the progeny, even when there is only one 
parent, as in many vegetables, and to investigate how 
much variation is modified by the mind or nervous sen- 
sation of the parents, or of the living thing itself during 
its progress to maturity; how far it depends upon exter- 
nal circumstance, and how far on the will, irritability 
and muscular exertion, is open to examination and expe- 
riment. In the first place, we ought to investigate its 
dependency upon the preceding links of the particular 
chain of life, variety being often merely types or approxi- 
mations of former parentage ; thence the variation of the 
family, as well as of the individual, must be embraced 
by our experiments. 

This continuation of family type, not broken by ca- 
sual particular aberration, is mental as well as corporeal, 
and is exemplified in many of the dispositions or in- 
stincts of particular races of men. These innate or con- 
tinuous ideas or habits, seem proportionally greater in 
the insect tribes, those especially of shorter revolution ; 
and forming an abiding memor}^, may resolve much of 
the enigma of instinct, and the foreknowledge which 
these tribes have of what is necessary to completing their 
round of life, reducing this to knowledge, or impres- 
sions, and habits, acquired by a long experience. This 
greater continuity of existence, or rather continuity of 
perceptions and mpressions, in insects, is highly pro- 
bable ; it is even dijSicult in some to ascertain the parti- 
cular stops when each individuality commences, under 
the different phases of egg, larva, pupa, or if much con- 



APPENDIX. 



387 



sciousness of individuality exists. The continuation of 
reproduction for several generations by tlie females alone 
in some of these tribes, tends to the probability of the 
greater continuity of existence, and the subdivisions of 
life by cuttings, at any rate must stagger the advocate 
of individuality. 

Among the millions of specific varieties of living things 
which occupy the humid portion of the surface of our 
planet, as far back as can be traced, there does not ap- 
pear, with the exception of man, to have been any parti- 
cular engrossing race, but a pretty fair balance of powers 
of occupancy, — or rather, most wonderful variation of 
cii'cumstance parallel to the nature of every species, as if 
circumstance and species had grown up together. There 
are indeed several races which have threatened ascen- 
dency in some particular regions, but it is man alone from 
whom any general imminent danger to the existence of 
his brethren is to be dreaded. 

As far back as history reaches, man had already had 
considerable influence, and had made encroachments 
upon his fellow denizens, probably occasioning the de- 
struction of many species, and the production and conti- 
nuation of a number of varieties or even species, which 
he found more suited to supply his wants, but which, 
from the infirmity of their condition — not having under- 
gone selection by the law of nature, of which we have 
spoken, cannot maintain their ground without his culture 
and protection. 

It is, however, only in the present age that man has 



388 



APPEITDIX. 



begun to reap tlie fruits of his tedious education, and has 
proven how much " knowledge is power." He has now 
acquired a dominion over the material world, and a con- 
sequent power of increase, so as to render it probable that 
the whole surface of the earth may soon be overrun by 
this engrossing anomaly, to the annihilation of every 
wonderful and beautiful variety of animated existence, 
which does not administer to his wants principally as la- 
boratories of preparation to befit cruder elemental mat- 
^ ter for assimilation by his organs. 
\ ■ . . 

In taking a retrospective glance at our pages from the 
press, we notice some inaccuracy and roughness, which 
a little more timely attention to training and pruning 
might have obviated ; the facts and induction may, how- 
ever, outbalance these. 

We observe that Fig. d, p. 27, from the want of proper 
shading, and error in not marking the dotted lines, does 
not serve well to illustrate our purpose. This figure is 
intended to represent a tree of a short thick stem, divid- 
ing into four branches, springing out regularly in the 
manner of a cross, nearly at right angles with the stem. 
These branches cut over about three or fom* feet out 
from the division, form each one wing of a knee, and 
the stem, quartered longitudinally through the heart, 
forms the other wing. It is of great advantage to have 
four branches rather than two or three, as the stem, di- 
vided into four, by being twice cut down the middle, 
forms the wings nearly square ; whereas, when divided 



APPEITDIX. 



389 



into two, the halves are broad and flat, and a considerable 
loss of timber takes place; besides, the two branches af- 
ford a thicker wing than the flat half of the stem does when 
squared. When the tree separates into three branches, 
the stem does not saw out conveniently; and when di- 
vided, the cleft part is angular, and much loss of tim- 
ber also takes place in the squaring. When the stem di- 
vides into four branches, each of these branches coincides 
in thickness with the quartered stem, and the knees are 
obtained equally thick throughout, without any loss of 
timber. The four branches, at six or eight feet above the 
di\dsion, may with a little attention be thrown into a 
rectangular bend, and thus give eight knees from each 
tree. Knees are generally required of about eight inches 
in diameter, and three and a half feet in length of wing; 
but when they are to be had thicker and longer, a foot or 
more in thickness, and from four to ten feet in length of 
wing, they are equally in request, suiting for high rising 
floors or heel-knees. 

The directions for forming larch roots into knees after 
the tree is grubbed, are also not very explicit. The stem 
of the tree is cut over nearly the same distance from the 
bulb as the length of the root spurs; this quartered 
through the heart (in the same manner as above), forms 
one wing of the knee, and the four spurs form the other 
wings. The same advantage results from having four 
regular root-spurs in larch, as in having four regular 
branches in oak : the two processes are quite similar, 
only the roots in the one case, and the branches in the 
other, form one wing of the knees. 



3D0 



APPENDIX. 



We have given no directions for the bending of plank 
timber. In larch, the wind generally gives the slight 
necessary bend to a sufficient proportion ; and in oak, 
the trees frequently grow a little bent of their own ac- 
cord. 

A foot-note has been omitted, stating, that the plan of 
bending young trees, by tying them to an adjacent tree, 
intended to be soon removed, belongs, as we are informed, 
to Mr Loudon. 

We regret that our allusion to the lamented Mr Hus- 
kisson was printed off before we knew of his death. 



Since this volume went to press, there has been some 
changes of scenery on the political European stage, even 
rivalling what has ever been accomplished of sylvan me- 
tamorphosis on the face of nature by Sir Henry Steuart. 
The intense interest excited by these efforts towards the 
regeneration of man, has completely thrown into shade 
our humbler subject — the regeneration of trees. We 
have even forgot it ourselves in the hands of the printer, 
while yet unborn. These sudden transformations alter- 
ing the political and moral relations of man, also render 
a number of our observations not quite apposite, and our 
speculations, some of them, rather " prophetic of the 
past." They, by obliterating national distinctions, and 
diminishing the occasions for going to war, will, it is 
hoped, bring the European family closer into amity. At 
any rate, they have completely thrown out the calcula- 



APPENDIX. 



391 



tions of our politicians regarding tbe balance of power 
and international connection as natural allies and foes, 
and bind the French and tbe British together by ties on 
the surest principle of friendly sympathy, " idem velle 
atque nolle" which no Machiavellian policy of cabinets, 
nor waywardness of political head, will be able to sun- 
der. 

We had intended to bring out Naval Timber and Ar- 
boriculture as a portion of a work embracing Rural Eco- 
nomy in general, but this is not a time to think of rural 
affairs. 

FINIS. 



ERRATA. 



Page 10, top line, for they read the branches 

18, line 13. from bottom, /or under read within 

18, line 8. from bottom, /or long read in length of wing 

22, insert f at fig. on right-hand side of wood cut. 

26, line 8. from bottom, /or 5 read 3 

57, line 4. from top, for any read many 

78, line 11. from top, for latitude read altitude 

87, line 9. from top, dele may also in some degree 

— , line 10. from top, for diminish read diminishing 

— , line 11. from top, for increase read increasing 

205, line 12. from top, dele generally esteemed 

206, bottom line, for lineal read large 

218, line 5. from bottom, for ground read portion 
220, line from bottom, after soil insert a semicolon 

222, line 14. from top, for latterly read laterally 

223, line IS. from top, for falling read felling 
242, line 12. from top, for into read in, to 
280, line 14. from top, for the read this 
285, top line, after n insert o 

300, line 2. from bottom, dele of 

327, line 6. from bottom, for that dew, read dew, that 

331, line 10. from bottom, for root read row 

372, line 14. from top, /or tend read tends 



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